Night Walk 7/7 - SUCCESS!

Documented nest 200 with the summer interns with SCDNR! Such a fun time showing them turtle patrol.

Just a short walk down the beach and there was a turtle covering up a nest. She had already been up for a while so we got a glimpse as she headed back to the ocean. We watched as she quickly dipped below the waves. This nest was very low and it was high tide, so the turtle did not have to crawl far.

We proceeded down the beach further and there were three more turtles ashore. We waited for the first turtle to begin to lay. This turtle must have been exhausted as she began to cover but then kept taking long breaks. The other two turtles already nested and returned to the ocean and this first turtle was still covering.

We left her be and hoped she would gain the energy needed to get back to the ocean. The following morning I received a call that there was still a turtle laying eggs. I was worried it was the same turtle from last night but it was a different one that had nested right before sunrise. The turtle from the nest we saw did successfully make it back to the ocean and her nest is marked as 200! We had a total of 6 nests and 3 false crawls. See below for some pictures taken during dawn patrol.