Results of green inventory – no live hatchlings but great hatch success!

Tonight was the much-anticipated inventory of the green nest, DEB14 Natural 6/5 just south WW#2. To be totally fair, we drew names out of the bucket for the “Green Team” that would do the inventory. As it worked out, Chelsey dug out the chamber, Kathy S. and Duane did the counting/sorting. Bill had studied up on greens and educated our largest crowd yet! 

This was a very deep nest as greens’ nests are because their flippers are so much longer (see photo of Chelsey in chamber). It was also a huge nest with a total nest count of 155! The average clutch count for a green is 110. The hatch success was an impressive 92%. The major hatch of this nest on Wednesday must have been quite a sight!

Since we didn’t have a live hatchling, we have attached a photo of a green from a 2017 nest. You can see the difference between greens and loggerheads.

8-6-22 Bill did his homework on green sea turtles and shared what he had learned with a big crowd.
8-6-22 Duane and Kathy S. sorted the shells/eggs as Chelsey dug them out of the deep nest. Betsy oversaw the process.
8-6-22 After the DEB14 nest data had been collected, Chelsey climbed in the chamber to show the amazing depth of the nest.
8-6-22 Chelsey was determined to get the entire nest contents out and came up covered in sand…true dedication!
8-6-22 Onlookers get a chance to see a viable green sea turtle egg that had not hatched. 2 eggs like this were reburied away from the nest in hopes they will hatch.
This is a photo from a green sea turtle nest we had in 2017. You can see the difference between greens and loggerheads. Greens have an almost black carapace (shell) with white outlining it and and the flippers. The plastron (belly) is totally white. Their flippers are longer than loggerheads and the overall size is a bit bigger enabling females to dig a 30 in. deep nest!
7-15-22 Loggerheads have a brownish-dark green carapace and shorter flippers. Their nests are about 20-24 in. deep.