Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sennet is off and swimming!
More sea turtles were released back to the sea, at Topsail, NC. One loggerhead, named Sennet, was sent off with a tracking device. You can read about the release and also track Sennet on seaturtlehospital.org. I checked
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Hurray for the Leatherbacks!
From several articles I've read, it seems that the Leatherbacks may be making a come back. :-) At least we can hope.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Live Streaming Turtle Cams
A short time ago, I read that live streaming webcams were being placed at three Loggerhead sea turtle nests, on a private beach on Big Pine Key in the Lower Florida Keys. These cameras were funded by the Florida Keys tourism council in an effort to raise awareness of sea turtles and two Keys based organizations, Save-A-Turtle and Marathon's Turtle Hospital that are working to protect and care for marine turtles and their habitat.
Laws prohibit people from touching or disturbing hatchlings, nests and nesting turtles, however the placement of these webcams was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The turtle cams were put on three loggerhead nests in mid-August. The cameras were equipped with infrared emitters to avoid any disturbing the turtle hatchlings. Sadly, the first nest did not produce a hatch, the second did, but there was a problem with the camera and it failed to record. The third nest however, was a complete success! Now we can all watch the baby loggerheads emerge from their nest and make their way to the ocean. You may want to share this with your friends. :-)
Laws prohibit people from touching or disturbing hatchlings, nests and nesting turtles, however the placement of these webcams was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The turtle cams were put on three loggerhead nests in mid-August. The cameras were equipped with infrared emitters to avoid any disturbing the turtle hatchlings. Sadly, the first nest did not produce a hatch, the second did, but there was a problem with the camera and it failed to record. The third nest however, was a complete success! Now we can all watch the baby loggerheads emerge from their nest and make their way to the ocean. You may want to share this with your friends. :-)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Wham The Loggerhead
Mote Marine Laboratory researchers, in Sarasota Florida, have attached satellite-tracking devices on 71 sea turtles, starting with five tags in 2005. Wham was among a class of 23 females tagged this spring at Casey Key, where Wham dug six nests before returning to the ocean. The tracking devices have revealed a regular route for the turtles to foraging grounds. Scientists noticed that Wham's journey seemed to be going wrong. The turtle, apparently attacked by a shark off Cuba, was rescued Aug. 23 near the Dry Tortugas and transported to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon.
Lucky Gets New Legs
This blog is about sea turtles, but I happened across a story today that got my attention and I had to share it. This article is about a box turtle who, after loosing his front legs, is now considered lucky to be sliding back to happiness again.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Walk #17
Today was our 17th and final turtle walk of the season. We only have 1 nest left in our zone that is due and should be hatched and dug by next week. I believe there are 10 nests left in the area from the eastern tip of Sanibel to the Tarpon Bay Beach. From there to the West end of Sanibel is monitored by SCCF, using their beach vehicle. There are nests still to hatch in that area. I will put the statistics for the 2009 turtle season on my Turtle Talk blog, as soon as it's available.
It was about 75 degrees this morning when we did our walk but it got up to 93 later in the day. We had afternoon thunder storms that brough us a little more than a half inch of rain. There is a 40 to 50 percent chance of rain each day for the rest of the week.
There was a pink glow in the east this morning as we walked out to the beach.
An osprey was standing watch at the top of a tree.
There was hardly anyone on the beach for a while.
Gradually people began coming out onto the beach to walk under the pink cotton candy clouds, waiting for the sunrise.
It was so quiet and peaceful out, even the birds seemed relaxed and in no hurry to fly away.
It took a while to see the sun, because it had to climb up from behind clouds.
The only shells were small ones.
This bird seemed to be taking a rest, and just sat there watching me as I took it's picture.
Just before leaving the beach, there was an area at the high tide line, where some sea weed was lying beside a little pool of water that had been left. I spied a Bubble shell and as I bent over to pick it up, I saw a couple more, then a few more. After picking them up, I moved a little more of the sea weed and saw two Top shells, some Apple Murex, a Nutmeg, Augers, Drills, a couple of Whelks, Shark's Eyes and Top shells. Then I saw four, tiny white Wentletraps. I got distracted for a moment and looked away. When I looked back, I could only find two of them. I looked and looked and never could spot the other two again. But, I was content with my handful of shells. :-)
I'm pleased to say that there was hardly any trash on the beach this morning, and no new sand holes. I will post the statistics for the 2009 nesting season as soon as it's available.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.
It was about 75 degrees this morning when we did our walk but it got up to 93 later in the day. We had afternoon thunder storms that brough us a little more than a half inch of rain. There is a 40 to 50 percent chance of rain each day for the rest of the week.
There was a pink glow in the east this morning as we walked out to the beach.
An osprey was standing watch at the top of a tree.
There was hardly anyone on the beach for a while.
Gradually people began coming out onto the beach to walk under the pink cotton candy clouds, waiting for the sunrise.
It was so quiet and peaceful out, even the birds seemed relaxed and in no hurry to fly away.
It took a while to see the sun, because it had to climb up from behind clouds.
The only shells were small ones.
This bird seemed to be taking a rest, and just sat there watching me as I took it's picture.
Just before leaving the beach, there was an area at the high tide line, where some sea weed was lying beside a little pool of water that had been left. I spied a Bubble shell and as I bent over to pick it up, I saw a couple more, then a few more. After picking them up, I moved a little more of the sea weed and saw two Top shells, some Apple Murex, a Nutmeg, Augers, Drills, a couple of Whelks, Shark's Eyes and Top shells. Then I saw four, tiny white Wentletraps. I got distracted for a moment and looked away. When I looked back, I could only find two of them. I looked and looked and never could spot the other two again. But, I was content with my handful of shells. :-)
I'm pleased to say that there was hardly any trash on the beach this morning, and no new sand holes. I will post the statistics for the 2009 nesting season as soon as it's available.Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.
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