Leatherback Turtle nest 6/8/2008

[ASH]

Photo taken this morning from the rental property porch overlooking the beach. :clap:
I am told that this is the 2nd documented Leatherback nest in the history of Walton County.
It gets better, the same guy, his name is Christian, found both nests. He found the first nest last year about 100 yards from where this nest is.
That guy needs to go buy himself a lottery ticket today.

http://www.sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/6/6/2/6/index_003.jpg

[aggieb]

:shock: what a monster of a leatherback.
that's awesome.

[Miss Kitty]

:clap:...oh, happy day! Thanks!

[DD]

:clap:

[DuneLaker]

That is just fabulous. Way to go Christian and Turtle Watch!! Now everybody, turn off your lights, fill in your holes and take your junk off the beach. Please.

[kurt]

Leatherbacks may have been nesting on that spot for hundreds of generations.

http://montereybay.com/creagrus/sea_turtles.html

The Leatherback Sea-Turtle Dermochelys coriacea is a very distinctive and different sea-turtle. First, it is by far the world's largest sea-turtle, typically weighing 600-1000 pounds and some have tipped the scales at 2000 pounds. Second, it lacks scutes and scales and instead has a leathery carapace with prominent longitudinal ridges. Third, it has the longest migrations of any pelagic turtle and wanders widely the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. Yet there are only a very few limited nesting beaches: one large and critical beach in western Mexico, another in Indonesia, and a few others scattered elsewhere (including Costa Rica). Fourth, it feeds only jellyfish and relatives, and can dive up to 3200 feet deep in search of giant jellyfish.


http://montereybay.com/creagrus/Turtle_leatherback-jso1.jpg

[JUL]

Wow! thank you! I was hoping someone would post a pic I was wondering what they looked like after seeing the pic of the trail!

[ozbeachmom]

That is fantastic! I showed it to my 7 year old and he asked if we could go down and see it. Mind you we just got home from our two months down there. For those two months he would get up each morning and walk with me looking to see if a turtle had come up to lay eggs.
How awesome was that to be the same person two years in a row to find this. What a special person!

[Smiling JOe]

I bet Christian is smiling a bit more today. Good thing the turtle didn't come ashore at the beach near Goatfeather's, as there were holes big enough to bury multiple large sea turtles. Made me want to slap somebody.

[Miss Kitty]

Makes me want to buy a gun, drive to sowal and camp out on the beach. ;-)

How many laws have I broken? :biggrin:

This is amazing! :clap:

[sowalgayboi]

http://www.lindsayfincher.com/gallery/d/12594-1/shooting_shotgun_lindsay_1.jpg

I SAID fill it in!

[Landlocked]

Will they have to move that one?

[BeachSiO2]

Will they have to move that one?

It looks like it is already flagged in place so I would guess no. They pretty much have to move them right away. That being said, it looks like any decent sized storm could result in flooding.

[Christian]

No, the nest is being left where it is--it's too hard to find the eggs on such a big nest, and this nest was in front of one of those dreaded seawalls, and TurtleWatch is not allowed to move nests in front of seawalls.

Yeah, what a cool experience to find a leatherback nest again in almost the same spot as last year! Her track was about 7' wide--even bigger than the one last year. She's one of the few that defied the odds to make it back to nest--the great turtle mother is full of mysteries.

[Landlocked]

It looks like it is already flagged in place so I would guess no. They pretty much have to move them right away. That being said, it looks like any decent sized storm could result in flooding.

It just looked too close to the water. They could surround it with geo tubes. :roll:

[BeachSiO2]

It just looked too close to the water. They could surround it with geo tubes. :roll:

Until they get undermined and sink below the water, or roll on top of the nests

[Scooter]

When can we expect the eggs to hatch? I'll be there the second week of Sept.

[BeachSiO2]

When can we expect the eggs to hatch? I'll be there the second week of Sept.

Gestation period is usually close to 60 days so you will be there a little early.

[ASH]

There you are Christian, to the left side of your photo! That must be Joey with you, correct?
Hopefully you went out and bought a lottery ticket after that find.

[bee66]

How can the nest be protected? Is there a group in control of this? We are coming down next week........should we take a shift standing sentry (armed?).

[ASH]

It is a federal crime to mess with the nest or the contents. There has only been one nest this year being messed with over in Miramar Beach. Someone has pulled up the marking stakes a couple times, but hasn't messed with the actual nest as of yet. There are several people keeping on eye on that one including the Sheriff's office and they will catch someone eventually and wring their scrawny little necks.
There are yellow federal signs posted at each nest explaining what is there and what the laws are regarding it. People seem to be very good about leaving the nests alone.
Keep your fingers crossed and thanks for the armed offer.:biggrin:

[ASH]

Minnesota! I'm from Minnesota too.

[sowalgayboi]

How can the nest be protected? Is there a group in control of this? We are coming down next week........should we take a shift standing sentry (armed?).

Carry your cell phone and if you see someone messing with it call the cops. Then go over and :whack: them.

[Miss Kitty]

Carry your cell phone and if you see someone messing with it call the cops. Then go over and :whack: them.

:clap:...post that number!!!

[Britkiwi]

:clap:...post that number!!!

luckily our law enforcement office has an easy number to remember. I call it whenever I suspect a drunk driver and what not 267-2000!

[Miss Kitty]

luckily our law enforcement office has an easy number to remember. I call it whenever I suspect a drunk driver and what not 267-2000!


Thanks! I will go put this in my cell phone right now! area code 850? I called it sowal sheriff...what is it exactly?

[DuneLaker]

You got it right, Miss Kitty. South Walton has a Sheriff's Annex on 331 just north of Highway 98. It is across from the South Walton Government Annex. The South Walton Library is also in the general area if you need a landmark. The SoWal Sheriff's Annex is on the east side of 331 and the SoWal Government Annex is on the west side of 331.

[Christian]

There you are Christian, to the left side of your photo! That must be Joey with you, correct?
Hopefully you went out and bought a lottery ticket after that find.


Hey ASH:

It was great to meet you out at the nest, and thanks for your post--we have some cool turtle people, don't we? Yep, that's me on the left and Joey on the right, and we still couldn't touch hands even with me leaning--she was about 7' across with her flippers!

I forgot to play the lottery, but hey, I'm not in it for the money, anyway. The turtles seem to be settling-up with me. Two years ago I spent several sleepless nights lying next to a nest about to hatch, and when I arrived a little past sunset for another night of the vigil, the turtles had already hatched--120 little tracks down to the water. I was crushed that I'd missed the hatch. Ever since then the turtles have been very good to me. Like I said, the great turtle mother works in mysterious ways.

[Smiling JOe]

It is a federal crime to mess with the nest or the contents. There has only been one nest this year being messed with over in Miramar Beach. Someone has pulled up the marking stakes a couple times, but hasn't messed with the actual nest as of yet. There are several people keeping on eye on that one including the Sheriff's office and they will catch someone eventually and wring their scrawny little necks.
There are yellow federal signs posted at each nest explaining what is there and what the laws are regarding it. People seem to be very good about leaving the nests alone.
Keep your fingers crossed and thanks for the armed offer.:biggrin:
On a beach walk last night, somewhere around one of those nests high up on the dunes, around Deer Lake SP, there were two people with a flash light, on the dunes at one of the nest. They didn't appear to physically disturb the nest, but I wanted to beat their head in a little bit. They didn't linger long after I said loudly to my friend, "I wonder if they are trying to steal the eggs. You know that's a felony." Note to everyone, turn off your flashlights.

[floridiandreams]

Sharon Maxwell is the fearless leader of South Walton Turtle Watch

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1243645843/bclid1243715003/bctid1715728953

[ASH]

If you want to walk the beaches at night with flashlights, contact me and I will get red filters to you. I have plenty of them that I get from the Turtlewatch folks. Turtles cannot see the color red. I know lots of people like to go looking for ghost crabs and whatever else crawls around in the surf at night. I am cool with it as long as it doesn't interfere with the turtles.
I also have access to coloring books for children, pamphlets explaining the nesting season, stickers as reminders about lights. Lots of stuff. Please don't hesitate to contact me or anyone on the turtlewatch for this information.
Education is absolutely the key to success with the turtles.

[inside635]

When can we expect the eggs to hatch? I'll be there the second week of Sept.

Gestation period is usually close to 60 days so you will be there a little early.


Any update on the eggs?

[jensieblue]

My family comes down a couple times a year and the adults are pretty much past the night walks on the beach stage..But the younger generations of our group likely would go on the beach at night. Not living there, I dopn't know how seasonal the nesting time is. Might it be possible to have the rental agencies, we always do Rivard, let us know what we need to know to keep the nests safe. Maybe they could even put the red filters in the rental homes when we should be using the filters on the beach? I don't know what would be the simpliest but I insist that my family respect the beach and do what they need. Any thoughts?

[ASH]

It will probably be the first week of October before the nest pops......if it does at all. Gustav washed most of the remaining nests and while we have our fingers crossed, the reality is that many turtle eggs likely drown or got washed out all together. The four miles my wife and I walk had close to 10 nests that there is only one original nest left.
I understand the night Gustav was washing out nests, some brave souls were scooping eggs out of the surf and they got replanted to a higher spot, but there chances for success are not high.
Not to be gloom and doom, Walton County went from 20 nests all last year to 37 nests this year. I don't have the numbers, but we could have put more little turtles back out to sea this year than we did last year.

Thanks to everyone asking questions. Don't be shy. The question you ask may be the one someone else lurking really wanted to ask. :biggrin:

[beachma]

Thanks for the update! Is this the nest located in the vicinity of Seagrove Villas? Last October my husband and I were privileged to witness a turtle hatching from a nest there. We were told that it was a Leatherback nest...it was huge! We had returned from a wonderfull dinner at D&K's and were heading down to the beach for some stargazing, when from our balcony we watched a group of people hurry down the beach walk with red flashlights...it was a little eerie at first, but when it dawned on us what was happening, we went down and watched as 8 or so little baby turtles struggled to the surface of the sand, then made the journey down to the water's edge! It was quite a thrill for us...especially after 18 years of vacationing in the area and walking past many, many nests on the beach over those years! It was quite remarkable to witness how they struggled just to cross the tire tracks to get down to the water and gave us a whole new appreciation of why it's so important not to leave "crap" on the beach!!!! Hopefully the nest survived...I'll be checking for updates.

[ASH]

The Leatherback nest this year was within about 100 yards of the nest from last year. Storms have wiped out the stakes that were marking the nest location and so it is no longer protected from TDC trucks and people digging holes. The Leatherback does dig quite a deep hole and that helps its chances, but hopes are not as high as they could be for that nest if it could have been left in its natural state.
It is nature and sometimes things don't work out how we might envision they should.