First day of Fall, September 22nd Nest 08 emergence

  You could tell it was the first day of fall on the beach.  It was cool and gloomy, even the ocean was rough.

As Donna and Claudia walked up to our last nest of the season, Donna raised her arms for victory. I couldn’t figure out why they would walk on the hatchlings tracks.  They hadn’t.  All of the hatchlings emerged  to the left of the nest, and once they got out of the dunes they really spread out.  They emerged at high tide, so they had a smooth walk to the water.  This nest emerged on day 61.

Emergence hole

                                                                   Hatchling Tracks

Summary and photos by Sharon

Waties Island performs research and  management activities regarding sea turtle conservation in accordance with SCDNR permit number MTP 500