Called Them!

posted: June 21, 2015, 9:46 AM

Busy Sunday morning (or Saturday night) for the momma turtles and the turtle patrol! The morning rider found three crawls this morning. Teams dug at 529 OBW and 543 OBW but could not find the eggs. This may have been the same mother, as the flipper width was 31" wide. Unfortunately as the mother turtle dug down she ran into hard clay-like sand that made digging difficult. We think she tried twice and was unsuccessful. Hopefully she'll find a more suitable location tonight. These spots are recorded and called "false crawls". We will still watch these spots in 50-60 days to see if hatchlings appear---this mother might just have done a great job of hiding these eggs.

A third false crawl was found at the way west end of the beach. This was a larger turtle.

The stranding team was also called out and an injured loggerhead was transported to the Turtle Hospital. This is the second turtle taken this week to the hospital. Unfortunately the turtle rescued Thursday from the surf died Friday afternoon. She was very sick and emaciated, and at least she was safe and cared for during her last 24 hours.

Want to know more about turtle crawls? Look at these photos taken this morning at the false crawl at 543 OBW. Which of the crawl marks did the mother turtle make coming in and which one going out?

Answer: The incoming crawl is the one made to the left. The center is what is called the "body pit" where she tried to dig the nest. The pile of sand is called the "fluff" sand. She left heading to the right.




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