Turtle News
We have nest #40 found by Bill and Linda Nelson and Mary Zamora between boardwalks 2 and 3. It was Mary's first nest! Judy Morr responded and found the nest of 119 eggs with one egg broken in the bottom to the side of the nest. It was used as the DNA sample. The 118 eggs were moved to higher ground near boardwalk #6.
Zone 4 ladies all wore different colored shirts to "call the turtle mamas in". Unfortunately, the rainbow girls came up empty in spite of their efforts.(see stunning photo below)
Walkers Cathrine Scully, Sue Thomas, Gary Holtz, Rob Jerome, and Danya Geller with her 2 children, Noah and Leila called with a crawljust south of Boardwalk 2. Bill and Linda Nelson with Jim Lawrence responded and found Nest #39. The 60 eggs after the sample were moved south in Zone 3.
We have nest #38 on zone 1 walked by Denesa Collins and her son Bill, They found the crawl 200 yards north of the boat launch past the flag. Terry Fansler, Sandy MacCoss & Beautsie Zahrn responded. Sandy found the nest on the first probe. The 89 remaining eggs, after the DNA sample, were moved behind the nest to higher ground.
We keep getting nests, A great thing. The season looks super so far. The state of South Carolina is on a roll as well with the best start ever.
On Wednesday, June 13th, Seabrook Island resident and angler extraordinaire, Stan Ulner, called to report that he had inadvertently caught a sea turtle while fishing in the surf on North Beach. He immediately called Security and the Turtle Patrol for help. By the time Terry Fansler and Sandy MacCoss of the Turtle Patrol arrived, SIPOA Security Officer Eric Jones and the new Beach Patrol were already on the scene and the Beach Patrol had removed the hook from the turtle’s mouth.
The turtle turned out to be a 13 1/2 inch Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle. Both the Beach Patrol and Officer Jones did a great job handling the turtle and the gathering crowd while the Turtle Patrol coordinated with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Terry thoroughly examined the turtle, including opening its mouth to inspect for damage, and communicated with the DNR to clear the release. The turtle made its way back to the ocean as the crowd that had gathered on the beach looked on and cheered.
The Turtle Patrol would like to express its gratitude to Officer Jones and the Beach Patrol for their very professional assistance.
Zone 1 was the lucky zone today with the only crawl reported by Anne Snegrove, Gayle Evans, Melanie Jerome, Terry Fansler and Tyler Harrell from the Department of Natural Resources making a site visit. The crawl was past the old pier. Bill and Eileen Middleton responded with Bill finding the eggs quickly. The area was high enough so that nest #37 is in situ, Glad we were able to have some action for Tyler.
Terry and Beautsie rode Tyler around the rest of the beach so she would be familiar with our beach and the difficulties we encounter.
A good day to have DNR make their visit.
Email: hello@ siturtlepatrol.com
