Laid between midnight and 3 am on Monday
27th June, Nest 184. The following morning we had a false crawl (meaning no eggs laid as she either didn't like the sand or was somehow disturbed).
The eggs are now incubated by the sun & sand - depending on temperatures the circa 100 eggs should hatch in 50-60 days. So far it has been very hot, so maybe closer to 50 days than 60?
Who knows - turtles do what turtles do . . .
We spotted some of the tracks in the night and upon waking could see her whole journey - she came straight in from the sea (left track in picture) and then took a wandering route out to the right entering the sea again by the groin.
On our beach, the county contracts with the Clearwater Marine Acquarium to monitor the turtles. Most recently CMA have been attaching trackers to sea turtles - so if you want to know where a turtle goes when she enters the sea and track her fascinating journey click
here.
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| Locating the egg chamber & taking measurements |
Soon on Monday morning CMA came along to N184 out front of our condo.
First they confirm it is a nest by locating the eggs in the egg chamber. Then a range of measurements are taken, all of which are reported to the State of Florida. The State uses all this information to monitor the health of this threatened species; sea turtles are also indicator species of the overall health of our oceans!
CMA stake out the nest to avoid inadvertent destruction of the nest by the beach raker or beach goers with umbrella stakes.
These measurements also help to re-locate the nest in the case of a storm washing out the stakes.
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beach raker - cleaning the beach
obliterates the tracks so must find
the nests before raking starts |
As "turtlers" our aim is simply to minimize human
impact on our nesting turtles and hatchlings, letting nature take its course.
As per British tradition, I must discuss the weather.
We've had some gorgeous sunsets recently and several sightings of the
green flash - a visual sight that sometimes occurs right at sunset (or with the sunrise they tell me, but mini me has yet to see a green flast at sunrise - surprise!).
On a cloudless horizon with the right atmosphere, a green spot/flash is visible for a split second with the setting sun as the atmosphere can cause the light from the sun to separate out into different colors. Explanation courtesy of and more detail available from Wikipedia
here.
This holiday weekend has brought cooling '
pop-up storms' and
waterspouts. Our local weatherman, reports an
'absence of weather activity in the Gulf' - I take this to mean no hurricanes developing - good news! But it is hot, humid and good for breeding mosquitoes -- so we need
mosquito fish. These small fish eat mosquito larvae and are being given out free as Florida now has > 200 Zika cases.
On the holiday front for humans, Washington DC's National Building Museum is having an "
Icebergs" exhibition (this follows last July - September's Beach exhibit - all white, no sand, plastic balls to be the 'ocean').
Tampa's MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) is having a
Polar Beach Party with snow (described on their website as
"enjoy an air-conditioned beach inside . . . lounge on a simulated shoreline, and play in a flurry of real falling snow")!
And just when mini me didn't think she would see anything new on the beach, here came the segways! Not sure this is the best way to enjoy sand, shells and surf, but hey . . . a novel way for a turtle patrol perhaps??
It takes alot to keep the beach clean - a bit of consultation with the beach raker here --
