Last Saturday night, I saw my first female...turtle, that is. Melissa and I had just gotten off the beach after an exciting turtle walk, topped off with the capture of a particularly pissed off ghost crab. As we were leaving the parking lot we heard, "We have emergence 202, next will be 203" windily crackle over the radio.
Without hesitation we turned left out of the beach deck parking lot and sped down Beachview Drive, stopping at the Hampton Inn and then at Glory Dock to get back to the sand and spot the latest lady.
No turtle.
Finally, we were able to get a hold of turtle patrol who had previously been too busy with their new mama turtle. She was just north of the convention center, no more than a kilometer from where we had started. Again, we raced in 1960's Batmobile fashion (theme music and all) back up Jekyll's coast to find our lady loggerhead.
Until then, I hadn't seen a nesting female sea turtle. I have been working in sea turtle conservation for the better part of a year and always felt kind of like a poseur. The people I have worked with both in DC and in South GA had not just seen it, but seen it hundreds of times. They all, though, remember their first ladies, just as I will remember JICc78, and get just as excited with each emergence.
Without hesitation we turned left out of the beach deck parking lot and sped down Beachview Drive, stopping at the Hampton Inn and then at Glory Dock to get back to the sand and spot the latest lady.
No turtle.
Finally, we were able to get a hold of turtle patrol who had previously been too busy with their new mama turtle. She was just north of the convention center, no more than a kilometer from where we had started. Again, we raced in 1960's Batmobile fashion (theme music and all) back up Jekyll's coast to find our lady loggerhead.
We got there while she was still digging her nest chamber. Soon after, she started dropping egg. At that point, with mama in a trance, we were able to approach her and watch as this lady laid in the moonlight. 45 minutes later, she started to close up shop and Turtle Patrol went to work, dressing her with her flipper and PIT tags, and taking a skin sample for a mitochondrial DNA study.
When they got what they needed it was off to the next one for Turtle Patrol.
When they got what they needed it was off to the next one for Turtle Patrol.
I stayed to see her off to sea. The nesting ritual has a spiritual quality. This same ritual has gone on for millions of years; far longer than any of the world's religions. This turtle doesn't know about environmental policy or coastal development. She knows about eating, mating and nesting and does as she always has (since she was about 30 anyway) and as the millions of generations of sea turtle before her had.
Until then, I hadn't seen a nesting female sea turtle. I have been working in sea turtle conservation for the better part of a year and always felt kind of like a poseur. The people I have worked with both in DC and in South GA had not just seen it, but seen it hundreds of times. They all, though, remember their first ladies, just as I will remember JICc78, and get just as excited with each emergence.
I have included a key for those of you having trouble deciphering the phone pic taken through our night vision monocular (Sarah Hoyt)
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