Turtle & Tampa [History] Safaris

5,943 loggerhead nests as of 22 June

In order to see turtles on the beach nesting at night, we decided we needed to travel to the East Coast of Florida where the turtle nesting density is much higher. This involved a 200+ miles four-hour journey each way driving Southeast across Florida to Juno Beach and the Loggerhead MarineLife Center.

The journey is flat, flat, flat with little choice of roads; the center of Florida is orange groves and cattle farms. So we had one two-lane highway to travel and we climbed one hill on the way there and the same hill on the way back. Through Brighton,past Kew Gardens with weird sight of cows shading under palm trees (for our English friends). At times it was like driving through a tunnel of low trees lining the road, very monotonous with constantly moving water mirages on the road ahead. Florida drivers, notoriously frightening in their driving habits, kept us on our toes as one has to anticipate their moves and compensate for their atrocious antics.

We did, however, get to see a bit of wildlife - a couple of beautiful Sandhill Cranes with brilliant red heads roadside stalking their prey and an endangered Wood Stork in flight - a lovely white body fringed with black on its' wings.

With such wide open spaces and little population you may wonder about local fun. We didn't stop, but did discover this advertisement.

Tracks & nest among seaweed
at daybreak

Sea turtles nest (and hatch for that matter) primarily at night and spook easily. So, to see a turtle crawl up the beach and nest, one has to:

• be up at night
• wear long sleeve/leg dark clothing
• have a red light torch (as they don't see this spectrum of light so well)
• put on plenty of bug spray!! And then some more!
• be tolerant of hot muggy nights
• have tons of patience
• and be very quiet with good night vision.

notice turtle tracks in foreground - sunrise!

We interviewed a volunteer named Susan at the Loggerhead MarineLife Center asking how best to spot turtles. They don't encourage visiting the beach at night (turtles spook easily), but as we volunteer here on the west coast to monitor the turtle activity she was sympathetic to us.

There are different schools of thought about sitting still on the beach and waiting or walking the high tide line looking for a track up the beach without a return. We did both & got up for sunrise to see the overnight tracks. Look'in for the turtles? Me too!

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We found a few crabs - signs of a healthy beach. Juno/Jupiter beach is much steeper than ours making it a real haul for those mama turtles.

steep beach profile

Plenty of morning tracks, but nighttime turtle spotting wasn't looking good for awhile and there was spectacular heat lightening out both nights we visited (see previous post on avoiding beach during lightening - yup I ignored my own advice but watched the distance very carefully).

YES we spotted five turtles in all. It took time to adjust our night vision and tune in to seeing the turtles. One crawled right by another guy on the beach and he was oblivious. They don't really make much noise and are intent on their mission - to find a nesting spot and lay circa 100 eggs in a deep chamber and then camouflage the nest.

Hubby was the better spotter; in the darkness the turtles are large dark ovals very low to the ground that one can easily mistake for seaweed. Our viewing got progressively better as we saw (in order) the turtles:

This is Bowden; best pic, as we chose to respect the turtles &
avoid night pics (no flash) which don't come out well

• one in water swimming away
• one just slipping into the water
• returning from nesting into the water
• just in front of us on high tide line walking into the surf
• one finishing her nest and sliding down the beach slope to the water - an image that will stay with me for a long time!

and all too soon it was time to return home.

After running a Facebook workshop during the week for a local historical society, Friday we were off for a bus tour of Old downtown Tampa - not a place we visit very often as the beach is too alluring and it is about 1 hour from home, depending on traffic and those crazy Florida drivers.

Sargassum seaweed that supports
baby turtles

Mini Me explained in an earlier blog (28 February 2015) that Florida was once roamed by saber-tooth tigers, giant sloths, and mammoths with a vastly differing land mass as the seas rose and fell. Native American Indians have lived here for thousands of years. Following the official 'locating' of Florida (means Feast of Flowers) by Juan Ponce-de-Leon in 1513, Pánfilo de Narváez, a Spanish conquistador, came in 1528 search of gold and slaves. He was followed by Hernando de Soto in 1539.   Narváez sailed into what is now known as Boca Ciega Bay very near our home and landed in the jungle areas later named Jungle Prada, now on the National Register of Historic Places. Jungle Prada is the site of the first exploration by white man of the North American continent and is older than Plymouth Rock, Jamestown, or the Lost Colony of Sir Walter Raleigh. However, the early Spanish explorers didn't fare well with the Indians and Florida was controlled by Native Indians until the early 1800 Seminole Wars.

Sticks of Fire Statute

Tampa, originally Tanpa, means 'sticks of fire' in native language and is the lightening capital of the world.  Here's a potted history as mini me has been able to piece it together.

Tampa was settled by Crackers (cow man or cowboys) and became an active trading port in the 1800's, founded on the site of Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay.  Tampa is now the State's largest trading port complete with a cruise ship that sails to Harwich, UK (yeah!). 

For 20 years Florida was ruled by the British who acquired the land in 1763 as part of the treaty which ended the French and Indian or Seven Years' War. The local county, Hillsborough, is named for British Lord Wills Hill,the then-Secretary of State for the Colonies and Earl of Hillsborough, although he never set foot in Tampa.

Spain regained control of Florida in 1783 as part of the Treaty of Paris at the end of the American Revolution and was purchased by the US in 1821 ending European control; neither Britain nor Spain really had much interest in Florida being preoccupied by other colonial interests.

Oaklawn  Cemetery
Spanish moss on trees

The US promptly built Fort Brooke (beginnings of modern day Tampa) on an Indian site and began resettlement of local Indians into reservations sparking the Seminole Wars of 1830's - 1840's. Much of Tampa was washed away in the 1848 hurricane that also shaped our barrier island home.

Florida joined the Union (USA) in 1845, seceded in 1861 and rejoined in 1868, but did not play a major role in the Civil War.

Victorian Style Plant Hotel/Folly

Yellow fever and conflicts with the natives kept Tampa small until the arrival of the Plant railroad & hotel system in 1884 and the discovery of the mosquito as the carrier of yellow fever by Dr. John P. Wall in the 1870's; he used air blown over ice (early form of refrigeration) to cool his yellow fever patients.

Tampa grew with the railroads and port, attracting the cigar manufacturing industry out of Cuba and Key West; the warm, humid climate of Tampa is a perfect humidor for keeping tobacco fresh and easy to roll. Ybor City in Tampa was founded by Vicente Martinez Ybor in 1885 and at one time produced over 1 million cigars/day in over 200 local factories attracting many Cubans and Italians who were provided with housing and educated by lectors reading to them as they rolled. Thus cigars dominated the economy along with related industries of box construction, lithography and beer, these brought by the Germans. Tampa was also a major staging ground for the Spanish-American War of 1898 with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders congregating here before intervening in the Cuban War of Independence.  WWII also brought many military personnel to Florida 

Post WWI, Tampa's economy diversified first into heavy manufacturing.  The Civil Rights movement was largely peaceful demonstrations & sit-ins here in the 1960's.  From the 1970's employment shifted into services - financial, aerospace, medical technology, electronics - as well as becoming an agribusiness center and a foreign trade zone. 1/3 of Florida's population lives around Tampa/St Petersburg area. 

1970's inverted Pymarid Pier

Our favourite, St Petersburg is almost as populous as Tampa and a bit edgy with a more attractive waterfront.  St Pete developed as a tourist destination from the start in 1875, taking off with the railroad arriving in 1888 and became a baseball spring training location (today home to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field). The city's claim to fame is the world's first scheduled airline flight of Tony Jannus from St. Petersburg to Tampa in 1914. The Mediterranean Revival architecture of the 1920's - it's heyday - is still evident today and inspires an active preservation

1920's Vinoy Resort Hotel

society.

St Petersburg revived after the advent of air conditioning in the 1950s and today is renown for its diverse culture and 6 art districts with the opening of the new Dali Museum and the Chihuly glass collection.

There is an excellent Tampa history here and St Pete here.

Watched the moon set over the Gulf 1:54 am Wednesday night - heaven!

Florida News Flash: Florida hunters will soon have the ability to take part in black bear hunts for the first time in two decades.. Thinking it is a way to stop human/bear encounters, Commissioners were in favor of the measure.

We're at the Antiques Road Show

See oval shaped track from the water?

Tuesday (16th June) we had a false crawl in front of our condo; this means the turtle came up on the beach started to nest and was spooked, so left without laying the eggs. No sign of her on our plot since. 

OK, so it was the local Pinellas County Heritage Village Antique Appraisal Fair (oral appraisals from local experts at $12 for 3 items). By the way in the USA anything over 50 years is considered 'antique' as we learnt in our Tampa History class and 100 years for a building is a really big deal.

We took the quilt my Aunt gave me and pictures of my grandma's furniture to the Antique Fair on Saturday. We weren't so much interested in a $ figure as learning about age/style/content of the furniture.

Our 'luck of the draw' was a lady (Laura Collum) from Collum Antiques in Belleair Bluffs. She said the furniture market was depressed (due to the housing market crash) and she used to carry a lot quilts, but Japanese quilts entering the market really depressed quilt prices.

Our Bradley Family Quilt (see blog post of 22 March) is likely a 1870-1890's original patchwork (from the style of scrap fabric handiwork) either damaged or never finished and then later redone with the blue velvet border and backing. Perhaps original was / was intended to be fan quilt.

The Victorian Boudoir Chair (wide seat designed for bustle dresses) could be Victorian or 1920's reproduction; has been recovered, original fabric likely red velvet or silk. She was intrigued by the wood carving on it and asked if we could have acquired it from the Caribbean (not likely!).

bungalow with native planting

And speaking of antiques, we went on a walking tour of the historic neighborhood of Kenwood, an urban residential district just west of downtown St Petersburg.  Its claim to fame is the intact nature of the neighborhood 1920's - 1950's bungalow architecture of circa 1,100 homes. The area was developed by Charles Hall starting in 1913, with the highest concentration of 1920's Craftsman style bungalows in Florida - this style is generally two bedroom cottages with hardwood floors, fireplaces(!), big windows and large wraparound porches promoting community interaction.

The area has big deciduous oak trees, brick streets and alleyways still intact. It has been making a come back from the mid 1990's. Our guide seemed amazed a house could still be standing after 90 years and finds it novel to walk to a restaurant / grocery - so we didn't tell him about our 'relatively new' London Edwardian home with 3 grocery chains within 2 blocks.

Alleyway

It's hot, hot hot; our local headline is "Dangerous Heat Expected in Tampa Bay." We have 'feels like' temperatures in the 100's. Seems hotter this year for some reason.

Hence the thunderstorms and lightening shows have been tremendous as easterly land winds clash into westerly sea breezes. You can actually see the clouds forming, feel the air change, and track the storm gathering strength before rolling across the sky to us. It never amazes me that people don't know when to get off the beach.  We live in the lightening capital of Florida which is the lightening capital of the USA!  People get struck by lightening every year here.

Wednesday (the 10th June) someone called out for a sea rescue within sight of our condo. Unfortunately after a police boat arrived plus 8 beach-based emergency workers with 2 fire trucks, it turned out to be a false alarm and one of the guys went BACK in the water - unbelievable and the cost to the public purse for false alarms runs into the millions here in little old Mad Beach each year! 

Now just to understand the lightening here's some tips from a recent article from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - during a lightening storm or whenever you can hear thunder:

• Use cellular or cordless phone; do not use corded phones;
• You can safely use remote controls, but do not touch electrical equipment such as computers, TVs or cords;
• Do not wash your hands, take a shower, wash dishes or do laundry;
• Stay away from windows, doors and porches; and
• Do not lie or sit on concrete floors or lean against concrete walls.

Lie down to view picture - LOL

There is a slight problem for mini me on the last point as she lives in a condo block with concrete floors, walls and ceilings! Recently we have had waves of lightening storms throughout the day & night (some without rain) so avoiding all the above activities means . . . Hubby says we will just have to stay in bed!!

Bed not a bad place to be as America seems to be the consumption capital of the world (as in buying cheap plastic gadgets you really don't need - I call them plastic bits) and communications, including the news, feel very superficial to us.  End of cultural reflection!  It's not all bad, mini me just saw the green flash -- her second time!!

Busy Doing Nothing OR . . . Relocating EGGS

Pass-A-Grille at dawn

Remember TED (Totally Electronic Device from 13 September 2014 blog post), our USA  washing machine (fancy & over-sized by UK standards but not by US)?  Hubby has worked out that our washing machine "cycle complete" audible indicator plays 'Busy Doing Nothing' by Bing Crosby from the movie 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' (1949) -- so someone in the LG Product Development Team has a real sense of humour -- and it is so appropriate for beach life - the song even mentions a turtle!!

Railroad vine in bloom
colonizing the beach

Having said that, mini me is very busy as a professional volunteer in 8 organisations and being a social sand hopper! On a recent morning (11th June) she was a 'beach walker' and located two turtle nests on her very own; hubby rode in the jeep and found two more! This is accomplished by 'reading the sand' to discern the turtle tracks and decipher what is human activity, other animal tracks and what might just be our local loggerhead turtles. Sometime easy, and sometimes (especially if the sand is hard packed) not.  SO EXCITING!!!!

My nest:  Turtle Nest 16, Turtle tracks away from sea to left, made a couple of body pits before making nest high on beach, return crawl on right and crossed incoming track near high water mark before return to sea, Pass-a-Grille, FL

Turtle Nest 15, laid inches from high water
and will be relocated, temporary stakes
while we search more beach, St Pete Beach, FL

Hubby's two nests were laid close to the mean high tide water line (MHW) and hence liable to flooding. To give them a chance of survival, they had to be moved.

Look closely - do you see eggs?

First you take measurements to locate the original nest and find the 'clutch' of eggs laid in a very neat egg chamber. Get the transport cooler ready.

Then gently remove the ping pong sized eggs - they are soft, like the coffee creamer containers you get in a hotel. Counting all the while, Nest N15 had 81 eggs and N14 had 111. Note only the sea turtle permit holder is allowed to do this!

see we take some sand from the
original nest

Once safely loaded in the cooler, move to the new location. While Bruno was removing the eggs, . . .

Julie's picture with captions

Turtle Joe used a post hole digger to make a new nest for the clutch [of eggs] higher up the beach. Julie's blog shows exactly how far; she has shared a picture with us too.  Then he put in stakes to mark the new nest.

Note these pictures are from different nests; all FWC protocols were followed and everything documented.

Then gingerly lay the eggs into the new hole, ensuring that you put them back in the same order taken out. Firm down with sand from the old nest, and then cover with sand around the new nest.

Notice we attract a bit of attention - all good publicity for saving the turtles and just maybe we will pick up a few more volunteers, nest adoptions and other donations (we rely solely on donations).

Turtle Nest 14, our activity has
drawn a crowd, St Pete Beach, FL

Anyone have a spare jeep they would like to give us to replace our aging 1960's army surplus? Will ours make it through this season (April-October) is anyone's guess!


We also patrol Shell Key Island (a nature preserve) but today (11 June following a torrential downpour of 7+ inches last night) the sea was too rough for our little boat and we couldn't go. Our captain said he had to wait for the sea to 'lay down.'

Sand swirls from recent storms

All this requires getting up between 4:00 and 5:00 AM - something mini me and life sized me aren't very good at doing; we are knackered for the rest of the day and usually have a late afternoon nap!!

However it is worth it, as in addition to tending the turtle nests, . . .

Pelicans in flight

we saw Pelicans riding the surf and a nesting colony of Black Skimmer birds. They are unique and drag their larger lower bill along the water's edge hoping to catch some fish. This colony is a bit controversial as they arrived 3 years ago and are displacing the local 4th July fireworks celebrations!

Skimmer doing what he does best!

Zoom in on picture to see details of Skimmers!

Today beach find - he went back into the sea as he was alive!

For more on how to be a turtle tracker, see my previous post.

Turtle Tracker Lessons

First enjoy the natural beauty around you - these pictures came after the summer thunder-storms Florida is famous for!

Then for local weird animal stories try iguana-creates-monster-toilet-clog.

see tracks narrowly skirting hole?

And for sea turtles:
Keep the beach clean, keep it flat.  Here's why - a turtle who narrowly missed falling in a hole on her way to nest - turtles cannot back up and cannot get out of these holes.  So fill up your digging adventures before you leave the beach!



To be a sea turtle tracker on the beach, start 1/2 hour before sunrise (currently 6:00 am) and patrol the beach looking for tracks - below is a sample:

tracks leading to nest N9

following the tracks
we will discover Nest N8
in the dunes

Two false starts - N8
finally she settled on a site in the dunes

Sometimes the mama turtle has a few attempts before making the nest as in this example; maybe she doesn't like the sand or sees something or whatever - here she stopped twice before selecting the dunes for her nest.

Eventually, the tracks will lead you to a nest - there are inbound tracks (on left) and outbound tracks (right)

Nest N8

once the mama turtle selects a location, she makes a body pit and within that pit an egg chamber. When done laying, she tries to camouflage the nest by throwing around lots of sand.

It's a rough life finding the nest, staking it off . . .

Can't beat this as a work location!
See the sunrise reflecting in the clouds?

then locating the eggs, and taking measurements - all to report into the State of Florida so they can track sea turtle statistics.

Locating the top of the egg lay is sometimes easy
and other times takes two - this can ONLY BE DONE
by the permit holder.  DO NOT EVER dig into a nest yourself!!

They will hatch in 50-60 days - circa 100 eggs with bottom cooler eggs being male and the top warmer eggs producing females (hot babes says the permit holder Bruno!).

the egg chamber:  look closely and you will see the top egg
(bottom left of hole in picture)

perfect nest location just at the edge of the dunes
out of harm's way from a storm
well done to this mama

This nest in the dunes is OK, but susceptible to fire ants and
babies getting tangled in root growth

Next blog:  Relocating a clutch of eggs to a new nest.