North: Beth called Sunday afternoon around 2:45 with news that there was a turtle coming ashore at the Beach Villas! Several volunteers arrived to learn the large turtle crawled up in front of the sea wall and had made a tight U turn and returned to the ocean. The few people on the beach kept their distance and reported the turtle had something strange on her carapace (shell). The object was satellite telemetry indicating she had been intercepted by humans and was being tracked! We hoped she would wait till dark and try to nest again somewhere on our 5+ miles of beach. Thanks to Christie Graham for this short video:
This morning, Buffie and Mark found a fresh crawl north #9mm between DeBordieu and Prince George. We hope this is the same turtle that found a suitable nesting spot. Buffie probed, located and she and Mark protected the nest. The DNA sample will tell us if that turtle had satellite telemetry. There were no other nests today from North Island to N. Myrtle Beach so we are optimistic!
With today’s nest, we have tied our 3rd best season!
DEB 29 HOB 46 SCUTE 169 SC 5466