Turtle News
One effect of the recent hurricanes is the loss of sea turtle nests. About 30% of South Carolina's Loggerhead nests were impacted by Hurricane Irma. We were very fortunate that all of the Seabrook Island nests had hatched. The last on the day before the storm.
The linked article summarizes the effect on Florida sea turtles ..... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/science/hurricane-florida-sea-turtle-nests-irma.html?emc=eta1
The following articles suggest that world wide sea turtle conservation efforts are having a positive impact. Who doesn't like good news?
http://www.upworthy.com/surfs-up-turtle-dudes-the-sea-turtle-population-is-making-a-comeback?c=upw1
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/science/sea-turtles-conservation.html
The Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol had another succesful season with 70 nests and nearly 6,000 hatchlings headed out to sea. Patrol Members also investigated 54 false crawls and relocated 57 nests. The Patrol has over 125 members who take on a wide array of responsibilities.
Many thanks to the Walkers, the Probers, the Inventory Team, the Pre Hatch Activity Team, the Education Committee and the Social Committee. All of these groups are critical to the Patrol's success.
All nests have now been inventoried and all equipment removed.
Nest #63 was found by Sue Scully. The nest had 101 eggs and hatched in 54 days. The nest was heavily predated by crabs.
Shells 33
Unhatched eggs 31
Dead hatchlings 0
Live hatchlings 0
Total live 33
Hatch success 30%
Emergence success 30%
Nest #64 was found by Deb Wiehn & Norm Powers. The nest had 85 eggs and hatched in 53 days.
Shells 29
Unhatched eggs 45
Dead hatchlings 1
Live hatchlings 0
Total live 28
Hatch success 33.7%
Emergence success 32.5%
Nest #65 was found by Anne Snelgrove, Lauren Helmer, Bunny Rogers & Gayle Evans. The nest had 110 eggs and hatched in 53 days.
Shells 105
Unhatched eggs 4
Dead hatchlings 1
Live hatchlings 0
Total live 104
Hatch success 94.5%
Emergence success 93.6%
Nest #66 was found by Pat Backstrom, Nancy Shenton & Judy Morr. The nest had 110 eggs and hatched in 53 days.
Shells 66
Unhatched eggs 19
Dead hatchlings 0
Live hatchlings 3
Total live 66
Hatch success 57.8%
Emergence success 55.2%
Nest #67 was found by Karen Sewell. The nest had 102 eggs and hatched in 52 days. As we removed the screen and sign in preparation for the hurricane, the nest began to boil! We watched about 60 hatchlings head for the ocean.
Shells 80
Unhatched eggs 22
Dead hatchlings 0
Live hatchlings 6
Total live 80
Hatch success 78.4%
Emergence success 72.5%
Nest #56 was found by Lucy & Ray Hoover. The nest had 87 eggs and hatched in 56 days.
Shells 80
Unhatched eggs 7
Dead hatchlings 0
Live hatchlings 0
Total live 80
Hatch success 90.9%
Emergence success 90.9%
Photo By Joshua Shilko 9/1/17
Email: hello@ siturtlepatrol.com
