We had an adventurous night walk on Tuesday with a downpour on the walk back to the office and one turtle seen! On our way back from the inlet, Ashlyn came across some campers who witnessed an emerging turtle. The campers did the right thing by keeping a distance and staying still in the dark. Unfortunately this turtle did not find a place to nest and ended up completing a false crawl. The night walk group got to witness her as she went back into the ocean. She had an old injury to her carapace and her rear flipper, so perhaps that was part of her problem in successfully nesting. The following morning we found 1 new nest and 1 false crawl. We also completed an inventory and found the most unusual find of all, a two-headed hatchling! See below for pictures taken during the patrol.
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Blog Post By: Chase, Sea Turtle Intern
Our sea turtles’ threats are mostly easy to spot - raccoons, beach erosion, and artificial lights, just to name a few, can all be simply observed by anyone. One of the most dangerous threats affecting the future of our sea turtles, however, is one that we find a little bit harder to spot on a walk down our beach: Earth’s changing climate. The Earth’s climate is changing - that’s a fact. Regardless of how it is happening, however, we have to adapt to it, and so do our sea turtles. As much fun as some warm weather sounds for our cold-blooded friends, the coming changes are especially challenging for our marine life. Rising temperatures pose a threat for our sea turtles before they are even born. As you may know, sea turtles’ sex is determined by their temperature as the eggs reach about ¾ of the way through incubation. Warmer temperatures produce females, and cooler temperatures produce males (“hot chicks and cool dudes,” if you will). Even though we only ever see nesting females, male sea turtles are still very integral to keeping up with sea turtle populations. So, as temperatures rise and nests warm up, more females will be produced than males. In nesting areas like Florida and Australia, scientists are finding that hatchlings are overwhelmingly female, up to 99% of hatchlings on some beaches. Without males, even further population decline is inevitable. Almost more alarming is that for some beaches, nests are getting so much hotter that hatchlings just don’t hatch. Although an overly-female population is alarming, the annual decline in hatch rates is an immediate threat. Published estimates have found that populations will continue to decline by about seven percent per year due to rising temperatures. Boca Raton’s nests used to have an average hatch rate of 78-81 percent, until 2015, when temperatures increased further and hatch rate dropped to 54 percent. In 2016, that hatch rate dropped further to 42 percent. Increases in temperature mean a lot more than just warmer air, though. Carbon dioxide, one of the “greenhouse gases” contributing to climate change, is naturally absorbed from the atmosphere into the oceans. Climate change is the main cause of coral reef destruction all over the world, and the coral bleaching associated with rising CO2 levels in the main cause of death. Coral reefs serve not only as habitats for many species of sea turtles, but also as ecosystems for their food to grow. Reefs serve global coastlines as well by slowing waves and protecting them from erosion, ensuring that sea turtles’ nesting habitats stay in place. Along with our coral reefs, coastlines are disappearing at faster-than-normal rates. As the oceans rise, good nesting ground for our sea turtles is covered in water. As well as covering the coasts, rising oceans also pull more sand and sediment away, eroding the beachfront faster than before. Climate change has also very likely increased the severity of tropical cyclones in recent years, helping to further wash away our beaches, and taking sea turtles’ nesting zones with them. No matter how you want to see it, things are changing. Our turtles are in trouble, too, and we are trying to adapt to help them. Turtle teams in Florida are testing shading and water-cooling methods for nests to combat the effects of rising temperatures on sea turtle eggs. Scientists are working on breeding corals that can resist bleaching and heating in order to survive and grow. Many hope to counteract the side effects of climate change while its roots are being addressed, to give nature time to adapt. A global problem requires a global solution, and everyone’s effort adds together. Our sea turtles need our help, and we’re doing everything we can. Just understanding the problem is a great beginning to solving it. Blog Post By: Karoline, Sea Turtle Intern
While on my way to set up for the night walk on Saturday, I received a call from Leah saying that if we hurried, we could potentially catch a boil on the beach! A boil is when the hatchlings emerge from the nest, something that I had never seen until last night. Haley (an Environmental Learning Center intern and sea turtle volunteer) and I put the pedal to the medal, parked the car, and sprinted to the beach. We were expecting to immediately have the hatchlings emerge, but as we know, turtles work on turtle time, so of course that didn’t happen. We arrived at the scene breathless, only to have to sit and wait for 45 minutes. The good thing about the wait, however, was it gave our night walk participants time to arrive and see the hatchlings! Once the little hatchling at the top who I nicknamed the “scout” hatchling seemed to give the “all clear” to the rest of the nest, they all came up and easily made their way to the water. Our night walk participants did a great job and let the hatchlings do their thing! All summer I have been waiting and hoping to see a boil. I’ve even come and looked for hatchlings on my night off! Knowing how our turtles are, I’m sure they thought it would be funny to take their time and hatch right at the start of a night walk After an exciting start to the walk, we came back to the Wi-Fi room for the presentation. We finished up with some great questions from the group, and then headed out to the beach. This was my first night going out ahead of the group looking for turtles and hatchlings, and I was very excited. I checked all the nests on my way up the beach, while still looking for adult turtle tracks. Finally, when I got to mile marker 0.8 there was an awesome person walking the beach who showed me that there was a turtle in the dunes! I slowly crept up and found that she was laying! The group approached, and we saw a beautiful big turtle lay nest number 185. After she finished, she made her way down to the water and we said our goodbyes. Then, on the way back to the white office building, I saw another track, and lo and behold there was another turtle laying right by the white building! This nest was number 183. I kept an eye on her as the night walk group left, as it was already becoming a late night. It was an awesome “circle of life” night walk with some fantastic night walk survivors! On our way to the inlet we spotted turtle tracks but unfortunately she had already turned around and left, creating a false crawl. Walking down just a bit further, we got word that the turtle had already come ashore and then left, leaving a new nest behind. On our way back from the inlet, another track was seen but this time it was just one incoming track. Ashlyn spotted the turtle, still creating her body pit. We patiently waited as she dug her egg chamber before getting a closer look. This turtle situated herself underneath the light screen of nest 10! So while she was nesting, we pulled up some of the light screen stakes. Then while she was covering, she was being extra feisty and was breaking the stakes of nest 10! We got to watch her return to the ocean after successfully laying her eggs. The following morning we found three new nests, 2 false crawls and another nest hatched. The nest we saw during our night walk program is marked as nest 179 on our beach. See below for pictures taken from the morning patrol. The turtles evaded us yet again as we returned from the inlet without a sighting. We still had a fun night walk! We got startled by scurrying ghost crabs, discussed horseshoe crabs, checked out constellations and looked for bioluminescence before a wave soaked all of us! The following morning they found two new nests and one nest that had emerged! We are now up to 174 nests on the state park beach. See below for pictures taken during the dawn patrol. Blog Post By: Ashlyn, Sea Turtle Intern
Setting the scene: On every beach spanning the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida, night patrollers would be walking the beach from dusk until dawn, attempting to encounter every nesting loggerhead that emerges from the ocean to nest along the dunes. Tags must be given to each turtle encountered with thorough documentation occurring throughout the night, and fingers must be crossed that no turtles evade the nightly patrol. A logistical catastrophe. Tagging studies on nesting beaches, the historical common practice to estimate nesting frequencies among other population demographic parameters, cannot obtain the magnitude of samples required for confident determination of sea turtle population demographics. Therefore, Dr. Brain Shamblin and his team at University of Georgia, altered the precedent. Since 2010, the Edisto Beach State Park beach along with beaches all along the Southeastern Coastline have participated in Dr. Shamblin’s genetic study of loggerhead sea turtles, allowing for a deeper understanding of loggerhead nesting population demographics, furthering sea turtle conservation efforts. Rather than a focus on directly on the mother turtle, focus shifts to the eggs to obtain information about the mother. From each nest discovered on the beach, a single egg is obtained from the clutch within 15 hours of oviposition. In its entirety, the egg contains both the mother’s and father’s genetic material; however, the shell of the egg contains genetic information solely from the mother. For this reason, the yolk contents of the egg are sacrificed, and the shell of the egg is preserved in a 70% ethanol solution to allow for the isolation of DNA from the eggshell of the mother loggerhead sea turtle. Genotypes are derived from a single-locus from the unincubated egg shell, with an accuracy rate of 97.6% to the genotype that would have been derived if taken directly from a skin sample of the mother loggerhead. The development of this single locus genotype frequenting technique serves as a groundbreaking noninvasive method in furthering our understanding of sea turtle population demographics. This methodology additionally is applicable to other marine turtle populations in which direct interception of the nesting female is logistically not feasible when genetics studies are being conducted. For more information regarding the nesting patterns of loggerheads on the EBSP beach, visit www.seaturtle.org for maps and data information. For more information regarding the genetic extraction process within the laboratory, visit the website of Dr. Brain Shamblin for links to his published works. We had a walk to the inlet under a starry sky with plenty of shooting stars! Unfortunately our wishes to see a nesting turtle did not come to fruition, as we returned back to the office without seeing a turtle. There were plenty of fun things to check out along the way including bioluminescence, ghost crabs, fossils and a black-tipped shark. The next morning our dawn patrol team found 4 new nests and 3 false crawls! These turtles must have come ashore to nest within the hours of 12am and 6am as they evaded us on our walk. We are excited to be up to 164 nests now on our beach! Check out the pictures below taken from our patrol team. Blog Post By: Karoline, Sea Turtle Intern On June 23 around 2 pm, Leah received a call from a worried beach goer about some turtle eggs that were exposed on the scarp at the inlet. After asking for some more information before going to check it out, she received a video of the nest, and sure enough there were exposed eggs! Turtle patrol is always ready for action, so we jumped in the turtle cart and headed to the scene of the crime. But, after a once over of the inlet, there were no eggs to be found… Feeling confused, we looked again more closely, and this time found some tiny little white ovals exposed on the scarp. We then realized that the perspective on the video had made the eggs look like they could be sea turtle size (which are about ping pong ball size), but in reality the eggs were much too small to be from a sea turtle. After our revelation that these were not sea turtle eggs, we came to the conclusion that they must be eggs laid by a diamondback terrapin! Diamondback terrapin eggs are oval shaped, pinkish-white, leathery, and about 1 inch long. Though the eggs weren’t laid by a sea turtle, Turtle Patrol is always ready to help a turtle nest in need, and these eggs had to be moved out of the sun ASAP! So, we grabbed our relocation bucket and got to work. This was definitely the quickest relocation I have ever been a part of, since female diamondback terrapins are about nine inches long, compared to our female loggerheads that are about three feet long. Diamondback terrapins nest May through early July at night, similar to our sea turtles that nest May-August at night. Sea turtle nests are about 18-24 inches deep, so it was light work for us to dig a new diamondback terrapin nest in a more secure spot in the dunes with a depth of 4-8 inches. A typical diamondback terrapin nest will also have about 4-8 eggs in a clutch, whereas our loggerhead sea turtles have about 120 eggs per nest. Our nest in need of a relocation had 8! After moving the eggs, we cut up a small section of our sea turtle screens and used some sticks as posts to hold the screen. We then put some orange tape around our little nest and bid it farewell! Typical egg incubation for diamondback terrapins is about 60-85 days, depending on soil temperature and nest depth. Loggerhead incubation is a bit shorter, about 45-60 days. So, in a couple months or so, we will hopefully have some healthy diamondback terrapin hatchlings make their way from their beautiful new nest to some brackish creeks! If there was to be a prolonged cold snap within the next 60-85 days, however, the hatchlings may decide to “overwinter” in the sand and hatch next spring! Like our loggerheads, females can lay several clutches during one breeding season, so let’s hope this diamondback terrapin’s next nest is in a better location! We loved working on this nest and can’t wait to see the results of our miniature relocation. Thank you to the person who reported it to us! Sources: https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/diamondback_terrapin https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Malaclemys_terrapin/#:~:text=The%20oval%20eggs%20are%201,and%20covered%20with%20leathery%20shells. We had another successful night walk on Thursday! On our way to the inlet we got to witness a very large turtle head back into the ocean after completing a false crawl. On our way back to the WIFI room, we had another turtle ashore! She crawled to a very high scarp so we were unsure if she would be able to get above it. There was another turtle further down that just finished laying her eggs, so we quietly passed by the one turtle to witness the successful nester cover and return to the ocean. The one false crawl had suspicious tracks that almost looked parallel, as if a green turtle was the one responsible! I have sent the photos to DNR for confirmation. I believe it is still a loggerhead but it would be neat if it was a green wanting to nest on our beach. Hopefully this turtle will return to nest successfully! The following morning we found 1 new nest and 2 false crawls. The nest we saw during our night walk is marked as nest 158 on our beach! See below for pictures taken during the morning patrol. We had an eventful night walk on Tuesday! As soon as we started to walk, I noticed a dark form crawling out of the ocean between myself and our night walk group! We had a turtle emerging. We thought this may be the shortest night walk to date but unfortunately she decided it was not the spot for her. We got to watch her once she was crawling back into the ocean.
Further down the beach, tracks were seen but the turtles had already come and gone, also completing false crawls. Continuing our trek towards the ocean, another crawl was seen but this time there was only one incoming track. We waited and waited and waited while this turtle was completing her egg chamber. We wondered why it was taking her so long. Finally once she was laying we were able to see that she was missing part of her rear left flipper! No wonder she had a harder time digging. We watched as she covered her eggs and then returned to the ocean. The following morning, our patrol team marked this nest as 153! This nest was situated too close to the scarp and below the Spring high tide line so a relocation was needed. They carefully moved her 101 eggs to a safer location. In total, our patrol team found 2 new nests and 7 false crawls. We had a successful program on Saturday night! On our way to the inlet we spotted one turtle and watched her as she crawled into the ocean. Unfortunately this turtle did not nest and was returning after completing a false crawl. On our way back from the inlet, more turtle tracks were spotted near the campground! This time the turtle was ashore and was laying eggs! We got to witness her lay her eggs, cover and then return to the ocean. On our way back there was another emerging turtle! To make sure we did not disturb her, we took a detour through the campground to get back to the WIFI room.
The following morning, our dawn patrol team found 5 new nests and 3 false crawls. The nest we saw during our night walk program is marked as nest 146 on our beach. I apologize for the later blog post but this past weekend was a busy one at the park! I hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend! Blog Post By: Chase, Sea Turtle Intern
When I tell people I’m an “environmental geoscientist'', they typically look at me kind of puzzled - what does the rock guy have to do with turtles? Well, surprisingly enough: a lot. To start, geoscience is a much broader study than geology. Geoscience is an expansion; it is not just the rocks and erosion of geology, but also climate, habitats, food webs, water resources, and the interactions between Earth’s many systems in order to sustain life. Geoscience is green. It is the study of the ways things connect and web together. It is also rocks and sediments and oceans, but as a geoscientist, I focus on how those rocks, sediments, and oceans interact together to create an ecosystem. Most importantly, geoscientists focus on the intersections of what we call Earth’s Four Systems: the hydrosphere (the Earth’s water resources), biosphere (everything that lives), atmosphere (climate, weather, and other air-related processes), and lithosphere (rocks and plates). Geoscience is the study of the Earth, meaning that geoscientists must fully understand the ways that the many systems interact with one another, and the results of those interactions. For example, loggerhead sea turtles, part of the biosphere, live in the ocean, part of the hydrosphere, then nest on our beach, part of the lithosphere, in the right climate, part of the atmosphere. Whereas a geologist might observe the sand, or a climatologist might observe the temperature of the nests, a geoscientist looks at the way that the sand affects the temperature of the nest, which then affects the hatchlings, who, as a keystone species, affect the quality of Earth’s water systems. To simplify things, geoscientists study the Earth as a big picture - how one thing affects another, and how the planet relies on those interconnections in order to survive. For our sea turtles, geoscience plays many roles. Geoscientists can provide insight into the way that the beach erodes and changes, creating and altering sea turtles’ nesting. They observe the turtles’ predators, like ghost crabs and racoons, noting how the effects of the predation not just on sea turtles but also on the predators’ populations. They monitor how storms affect the beachfront and how they inhibit nesting sea turtles. I research the ways that our planet and its changing face affect our turtles, and vice-versa. Geoscience, although bearing the same prefix as geology, has a different focus than other branches of study. Geoscience is Earth Science. It is the study of Earth’s fickle connections, and the way that life itself interacts with the planet. It is the branch between biology and geology - the science connecting life to earth. We had a long walk and a late night walk but it was filled with turtle encounters! We witnessed the first turtle returning to the ocean after false crawling. Then this same turtle that later got the nickname "shark bite" due to the large chunk missing from her left rear carapace, tried crawling ashore again. We witnessed her from a distance false crawl for the second time. We are not sure why she was completing false crawls as there was no disturbance to her, I guess she was just looking for that right spot! Then as we walked down the beach a little further, we witnessed a turtle returning to the ocean after successfully completing a nest! This nest had to be relocated in the morning as she nested below the Spring high tide line. After reaching the inlet, no other turtles were seen nesting but on the way back we got to see a nesting turtle! At this point, it was past midnight and we were all feeling pretty sleepy and tired but we powered through with the excitement of a nesting turtle. We watched as she laid her eggs, covered and then returned to the ocean. In the morning, we had 4 new nests and 4 false crawls. The nest we saw is marked as nest 140 on our beach. See below for more pictures taken from the dawn patrol team! We walked all the way to the inlet without a turtle sighting. There was a set of turtle tracks near the campground but unfortunately it was a false crawl. We still had strong turtle vibes and were staying hopeful as we waited at the inlet, hoping that we would get the chance to see one on the way back. After walking a short while, a sea turtle was emerging! We patiently waited as she created her body pit and dug her egg chamber. We witnessed her lay her eggs, cover and then return to the ocean. Her length of the carapace measured in at 97.7cm (38.5 inches) and no pit tag was found. We watched as she made her way back into the ocean and disappeared under the waves. The next morning our dawn patrol team found three new nests and 1 false crawl. The nest we saw during our night walk is marked as nest 130 on our beach. It was below the Spring high tide line so we relocated it. We carefully move her 132 eggs to a safer location. See below for more pictures taken during the dawn patrol. We had a beautiful starry night walk to the inlet with enough of a breeze to keep the bugs at bay. It was more of a challenging walk with the incoming high tide but we were still able to make it to Jeremy's inlet. Once there, we waited for a few minutes to hopefully let a turtle come ashore. The inlet is a great place to find fossils and one of our participants was able to find a shark tooth in the dark! There was one turtle that tried to emerge next to the Pavilion stairs but she was unable to find a suitable location. Our night walk group was still able to see her tiny crawl that she left in the sand from her U-turn. Hopefully she was able to find a more suitable place to nest. The following morning we found one new nest and two false crawls. The new nest is marked as 124 on our beach. See below for pictures taken from the patrol this morning! Blog Post By: Karoline, Sea Turtle Intern
Something we often do during dawn patrol is debate relocations. This week, we had several members of the public approach us with questions as we were debating. We don’t take relocations lightly, and oftentimes will be on the fence as to whether or not it is in the nest’s best interest to move it. We always err on the side of caution, which means we will only relocate nests if absolutely necessary. We like to think that in general, the mother knows best, but unfortunately sometimes the nests are just too close to the water to leave in-situ (in its original location). Relocations are a powerful and necessary conservation tool for turtle patrols, but they come with their own risks. The main concern we have when moving eggs is rotation, as rotation of the egg can cause the embryo to detach itself from the shell. It’s up to us to decide if the benefit of moving a nest outweighs the risk of rotation or not. The most common cause for relocations is the nest being “too low”, meaning it is below the high tide line. When a nest is below the high tide line, it is at risk of being washed over by the water too many times. Too many wash overs can suffocate the nest and decrease hatching success. On dawn patrol, the main questions are usually: How many wash overs will this nest go through if it stays where it is, and how many wash overs are too many? Even though our instinct and educated debates are usually very accurate in determining the amount of wash overs a nest will receive, I was wondering if there is any research or perhaps a scientific method that could determine a nest’s wash over risk. And, as it turns out, there is! Researchers at Florida State University have created a model that does exactly that. The model is currently able to predict the amount of harmful wash overs a nest will receive with 83% accuracy. The model combines the beach slope and wave data to calculate harmful wash overs on the beach. With data from calculated wash overs, researchers then created a risk map, which predicted where nests on the beach were most at risk. Creating a new risk map for a nesting beach every year may sound like a lot of work, but researchers have found that the “time-averaged model” was more accurate than the most recent model from the year before. So, just creating one risk map could benefit a nesting beach for multiple years. That is, however, if the beach is not changed by big hurricanes or storms. In that case, a new map would be needed in addition to the average model. With a risk map, we could look at the specific percent risk of harmful wash overs for each nest, giving us more detailed data to use in our dawn patrol debates. Hopefully, the risk map model will become even more accurate and easy to obtain, making it readily available to turtle patrols everywhere! Sources: https://eos.org/articles/predicting-wave-wash-overs-for-sea-turtle-nests https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569118310202?via%3Dihub Following the presentation, it was a short but sweet walk to find a nesting turtle! Our volunteers, Lea and Derek, were already on the beach helping to save some nests which were washing away from the King Tide. Just as we were about to go out on the beach and join Lea and Derek, they reported over the radio, that a turtle was up and was laying eggs! We took the short walk to join them to witness a loggerhead sea turtle laying her eggs! Although the sky was a little cloudy, the full moon still provided a lot of light out on the beach. We watched her cover her nest and then return to the ocean, a sight that no participant had yet witnessed! Everyone was overjoyed to see a sea turtle and was shocked by the sheer size of her. The following morning on dawn patrol we only found one new nest and one false crawl, which means we saw the only nest of the night! Our sea turtle intern, Karoline, and our volunteer, Bob, safely relocated this nest to a safer location since it was too low to the tide line. They carefully moved 116 eggs to a newly dug chamber. This nest is now marked as 122 on our beach! See below for pictures taken during the dawn patrol. We had a very eventful night walk on Tuesday! Following our presentation and walking onto the beach, we could see how busy the beach was with beachgoers. I came across one family that had attended our night walk program the week before. They mentioned they saw a group run to an emerging turtle causing her to false crawl. This is why we stress keeping 20-30ft from a nesting turtle to ensure she does not get spooked and continues to nest. Then I got word that a turtle was up and was laying eggs by multiple groups. When I arrived she had just started to cover. Our night walk group got to watch her finish the covering process and then head back into the ocean. She came up at low tide so she had a long and tiring crawl back. A few participants even got to witness when she resurfaced to take a breath of air once back in the ocean. We started our walk back to the WIFI room as we had our turtle sighting of the evening. When I arrived back to the white building, there were tracks leading up the beach. We had another turtle ashore! This time she was digging her egg chamber so we patiently waited until she was laying her eggs. It was a turtley fun night walk! The first turtle we saw is marked as nest 110 on our beach. The second turtle we saw was the first nest we came across this morning, so it is marked as nest 107. Both nests were above the high tide line so no relocation was needed. We found 4 new nests and 1 false crawl in the morning. We also recorded the 2 short U-turn false crawls that we witnessed during our walk. See below for pictures taken from our morning patrol! Blog Post By: Ashlyn, Sea Turtle Intern The anticipation of the morning had been building for weeks. But as the day arrived, there was a buzz of excitement that seemed to rush over the Park, as if being brought in by the morning tide. On Saturday morning, Turtle Fest brought hundreds of individuals to Edisto Beach State Park for food, games, and community building—all based upon a shared passion for the increased education of and conservation efforts towards sea turtles of South Carolina. Here are four outcomes I witnessed as a result of the exciting morning…
We had another successful night walk! We walked only 0.3 of a mile down the beach before we saw an emerging turtle. Some beach walkers came across her and kept a good distance to ensure she continued her crawl. We watched the dark spot on the beach crawl up to the tide line and waited patiently as she started to dig. Once she started to lay we got to get a closer look.
The following morning our turtle patrol had to move the nest because it was below the Spring high tide line. She laid 122 eggs and they were moved to a higher and safer location. The nest is marked as 97 on our beach! We found a total of 6 nests and 5 false crawls today! Bringing our total nest count to 102. We had another successful night walk! During my check to the south end of our beach, I came across a long crawl that went up and into the dunes. This turtle crawled between the jetty and the Pavilion, an area that is not as common for a nest. We patiently waited as she took her time digging that perfect egg chamber to fit all of her eggs! We had the opportunity to witness her laying her eggs, covering them up and then watching her return to the ocean. During her late stages of covering, we scanned her for a PIT tag and took measurements. There was no PIT tag found. Her carapace length from notch to the tip, measured in at 103.1cm. The next morning we found 5 new nests and 1 false crawl! The nest we saw is marked as 89 on our beach! See below for some pictures taken of nest 89 during our dawn patrol. If you would like to adopt this nest, you can visit the Camp Exchange or the Environmental Learning Center! Blog Post By: Chase, Sea Turtle Intern
A lot of the questions we get along our patrols are something along the lines of: "What makes sea turtles so important?" Or, more simply: "Why do they matter?" Surprisingly, we care about our sea turtles for many more reasons than their absolutely adorable babies. Although their cuteness plays a factor in our love, their importance to the world environment is much more motivating. Sea turtles are what's known as a keystone species. This means that the survival of their ecosystem is reliant on their species' survival. In other words, without the keystone species, the environments they occupy would be drastically different, or even cease to exist altogether. The concept of a "keystone" species was bourne from research by Dr. Robert T. Paine. In his research, he removed one species entirely - the ochre starfish - from Tatoosh Island, off of the coast of Washington state. Within a year, biodiversity on the island dropped to half. With the ochre starfish in the environment, the beach contained 15 different species. Without it, 7 species disappeared entirely. What happened on Tatoosh Island? Dr. Paine's research quickly revealed how important the ochre starfish was to the island ecosystem. Without it, mussels and barnacles rapidly populated the shores, killing off a majority of the prey species on the island, as well as all but one species of algae. It turned out that the ochre starfish single-handedly (single-armedly?) controlled only the barnacles and the mussels' populations. By doing so, they also controlled the space available in their habitat, as well as the populations of all types of prey and plant life forms. One species of starfish is able to protect the entire ecosystem from collapsing - earning it the "keystone" title. Keystone species define an entire ecosystem through complex webs of chain reactions. The disappearance of one animal causes more and more of them to disappear, until eventually, the ecosystem is totally different than it started. Sea turtles provide a much similar ecological role, on a much larger scale. Sea turtles munch on seagrass beds, promoting the grasses' health, providing a shelter for fish all over the planet, and preventing seagrasses from overwhelming other plants' resources. At the same time, they also keep prey animals like jellyfish at bay, many of which feast primarily on fish eggs. No sea turtles means no fish, because the fish never hatch. Even more so, sea turtles also provide a food source for many animals both on land and in the water - sharks, birds, crabs, and more all rely on various parts of the sea turtle's life cycle as part of their diet. Being a keystone species is a big deal. Sea turtles are our friends not just because we share an island, but because our oceans rely on them. We need sea turtles just as much as they need us. With a severe thunderstorm watch for our area, we were worried we would have to cancel our program. We continued on with the presentation part of our program and then rechecked the various weather apps to try to determine what the storms were doing. We waited for 15 minutes under shelter as the lightning continued to get further and further away. I did a check to the south end of our beach to search for any turtle activity. At one point, I thought I saw a shadow up ahead but it happened to be an old knocked down sandcastle. While crouching, I lost my phone out of my pocket! I tried not to stress too much about it as the walk must go on! And thankfully one participant in our group located my phone! After we started our walk down the beach, I came across turtle tracks. However, I saw both the incoming and the outgoing set of tracks. This turtle did not successfully nest and had just left a short while ago. We continued down the beach when another bright flash lit up the dark night. Another cell of the storm had popped up a bit closer, so we turned around and ended our walk. The following morning only three false crawls were seen! So even if we would have been able to continue the walk, no nesting turtle would have been witnessed. The one false crawl had an abandoned egg chamber, so she tried but must have hit some tough shells. I have included a few photos taken from this morning. Thank you to our night walk group for their positivity and understanding when we had to cut our walk short! The call for a stormy evening led to a smaller night walk group than usual. Only one group attended the program as the weather had turned wild. Thankfully by the time the presentation ended, the lightning had moved far offshore and we were just left with a light drizzle. We continued our walk in the rain in the hopes of seeing a nesting turtle. Unfortunately no turtles were seen on our walk. The following morning we found three new nests (nest 78, 79 and 80) and one false crawl. See below for pictures taken from the morning patrol. We had a very eventful night walk on June 10th! As soon as I went out onto the beach, following the presentation, I could hear movement over shells. We had a turtle heading back to the water after false crawling. We got to witness her return to the ocean, with the hopes she would return to nest successfully! Then another short walk down and there was another turtle ashore. Some wonderful campers had seen her come ashore and kept their light off and kept a distance as to not spook her. However, she could not find that perfect spot to nest, so she ended up returning to the ocean without laying her eggs. Walking just past the campground, another incoming track was spotted but no outgoing track, which meant the turtle was still ashore! She was laying her eggs so we got to witness her lay, cover and return to the ocean. This carapace measured in at 98.4cm and no PIT tag was found. As we were watching the turtle nest, another turtle started to emerge behind our group! She did not crawl too far before deciding this place was already taken! Luckily she did not expend too much energy and would have tried a different spot to nest. The following morning, our interns Chase and Ashlyn, along with our volunteers, Lea and Derek, found 6 new nests and 5 false crawls. The turtle we watched nest is nest 74 on our beach! See below for more pictures taken from the morning patrol! |
Leah SchwartzentruberSea Turtle Biologist Archives
September 2023
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