First Nest of the 2017 Season!

The day started with a report from Lauryn Gilmer of Camp St. Christopher  that she and a number of naturalists from the Camp witnessed a false crawl late Wednesday evening. The turtle came in before high tide Wednesday night, turned immediately around and returned to the sea.Next,Deb Wiehn reported a crawl on zone #3 . Tim Morawski responded and probed and probed for a nest.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be a false crawl.

Meanwhile, Terry Fansler, Gloria Reynolds, Chris Czander and Pat Luzadder found a crawl a few hundred yards north of the Club. The wind had blown away a lot of the field signs but all were sure there was a nest there.  Judy Morr and Terry Fansler probed extensively with no success. Then Pat dug away 6 inches of sand in the most likely nest area and Judy and Terry started probing again.  Finally, Judy found the first nest of the 2017 season. The nest had 123 eggs and was relocated to a new and safer spot above the high tide line.

With three crawls in one night, there is no question the Loggerhead nesting season has begun at Seabrook Island.

Update on Today's Stranded Loggerhead

News bulletin just received from Terry Fansler:

Update from the DNR regarding the live stranding this am.

This male loggerhead has been named "Bruce" as the theme this year is Finding Dory.  He was named Bruce because a shark(s) had been nibbling on him!  Bruce is the Great White Shark in the movie!  

They will have to amputate Bruce's right front flipper due to a shark chewing on it.  He has an extreme amount of Barnacles, and lab tests show deficiencies that need to be corrected.   However, the Turtle Hospital says things look optimistic at this time for his survival.   Hopefully, we can all visit him at the Aquarium Hospital this Spring and maybe longer!

Terry

Beach Report - Wednesday, May 3rd

It turned out to be a pretty eventful day on the beach even though we don't have our first nest yet.

Zones 3 and 4 had nothing to report.

Zone 2 with new members Heather Fife, Charlane Faught, Paula Baram and Judy Moor walking with them for guidance had a Portuguese Man of War and helped a blue crab and a horseshoe crab back to the water.

All the excitement was on Zone 1 with Lucy and Ray Hoover and Lauren Gilmer finding a loggerhead turtle stuck under a tree in the sand. The turtle was still alive. Bill Greubel, Terry Fansler and Sandy MacCoss responded and with all hands on deck they were able to get the turtle in the truck. Keeping the turtle hydrated, they drove the truck to the Fansler's driveway to await the DNR. At about 10:20 Jenna Cormany from the DNR arrived and the crew moved the turtle to the DNR truck for transport to the Turtle Hospital. We're awaiting news on our rescued turtle's health.

Email: hello@ siturtlepatrol.com