Early Success as Turtle Watch gets Under way in April, 2015

Last night’s Turtle Watch on Sandy Point with US Fish and Wildlife Service and Geographic Consulting was a success. Our group had just arrived and was settling in, when Turtle Watch visitor and friend, Lindsy Wagner, spotted a female coming out of the water only a short distance from where our group was seated. We radioed the Geographic Consulting’s patrolling biologists and they began checking tags and collecting the date that is part of their normal patrolling activity. Our group watched her; body pit, dig her nest, lay approximately 80 eggs, cover and tamp the nest, and then disguise the location. The whole process took roughly an hour.

 

By 10 pm 22 children and adults watched as the roughly 750 pound female she headed back to the sea, leaving behind the distinctive leatherback tracks. She may return to Sandy Point in 8-10 days to lay another nest. Last year, nesting females at Sandy Point averaged roughly 5 nests each over the course of the season.

 

In approximately 60 days our biologists will have their eyes on this nest to see the hatchling emerge and determine the hatch success.

 

We are prepared for a busy nesting season this year. We have already had a night where 8 females nested in a single night. We will provide periodic updates, here on the season’s activity.