Walk #14

The sun is coming up a little later each week, so this morning at 6:00 AM, there was still plenty of time for a stop at 7/11 for coffee first.

It was barely getting light out when we started. There was a dim pink glow just beginning. I could see the light house beacon blinking as I looked through the trees.

The temperature seemed very warm and there wasn't any wind blowing as we crossed over the boardwalk, but the palm fronds were blowing. I suppose we just weren't getting any of that air between the trees.

As we walked out onto the beach, we were met by a very pleasant breeze. There didn’t seem to be many people out yet. I could only see one person walking, further west and one person walking east.




The waves were pretty small this morning and didn’t appear to be bringing in any shells. All I saw were a few scattered ark shells. There were very few birds on the beach this morning. I guess food was a little scarce today.

I had gotten used to looking at the two nests just after beginning the walk. Today there was only one there and it had already hatched too. I wondered if there were any little turtles in there waiting to get out. Someone will go there in the morning to dig the nest, and then we will find out.

It was beginning to get a little lighter out and I could see a man standing with a coffee cup in his hand, looking for the sun to peep out. It was a little cloudy so there wasn’t going to be a pretty sunrise.




There was a lot of sand art left on the beach this morning. The first was a little puzzling; I couldn’t decide if it was a castle, a fort, or a birthday cake.




The second one was a little replica of a castle. Someone had spent the time to do a lot of detail work on it, which doesn’t show up in the picture very well.


I’m not sure what the next one was, maybe an Indian village? It had welcome written with shells, and the whole thing was bordered with sea grass.



Just a little further on, there was an enclosed parking area with a truck parked in it.



The next sand art seemed to be a wall; I’m not sure what it was supposed to be.



I just happened to look up to see a man sitting on the fence of a beach access. He had a camera with a large lens and seemed to be getting focused for a sunrise picture. I think he had to wait a long time for that shot.




We both already had a trash bag full, so we walked up to the public parking area to throw them in the dumpster. We had only just got back out on the beach, when we saw a pile of something sitting a little further on. But first, we had a few more items to pick up; a plastic sand shovel, several empty water bottles, a bread wrapper with left over sandwich pieces in it, chips, ants, ants, and more ants!

Then we got to the pile, and what a mess that was! A whole plastic grocery bag full of empty beer bottles, another bag full of trash and soda cans, another box that was full of left over picnic items, like chicken wings, chicken bones, partially eaten bags of chips and you guessed it, more ants! We both had our hands full and we each had to hold one end of the box together to get it all the way over to the dumpster by the light house. We nearly needed a pack horse for that job.

We walked back out onto the beach, picked up a little more trash, and then went to check out the last turtle nest. It seemed to be just fine.

We were surprised to see that we could walk part of the way around the tip of the island today, although it was a tight squeeze in a few places. We did have to take just a short detour in one spot.

Just at the end of the detour, as we came back out between the trees an osprey was taking flight with a big fish. I’m not sure who startled who, more.




Four men in a fishing boat seemed to be enjoying their early morning adventure.


Your guess is as good as mine on this treasure. Did this Georgia peach float all the way here, or did a bird drop it? I guess we’ll never know the answer to that one!



If you are taking a walk on the beach at night, between the fishing pier and the light house, be careful or you could run into some of the many roots that are partially buried in the sand. Believe me, they can sure do some damage to your shins.




Just past the fishing pier, a Snowy Egret was standing on top of a pile of sea grass, sort of like it was on a pedestal, standing patiently while I took its picture.

Next was the Great Blue Heron that seems to always be there waiting for us to pass by.




There was a lot of sea grass on the beach again today.

The campers were nowhere in sight this morning. They had not left any trash around, except for a couple of plastic cups and the usual deco scattered around in the bushes. GRRR!







We began seeing more shells for a little way, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Looking out across the water, you could still see clouds hiding the sunrise.



An anchored sailboat was a nice photo opportunity with the highest span of the causeway in the background.




As we walked past the big rocks piled at the water’s edge, there was a loader and a bobcat sitting in the homeowner’s yard. So I guess their project of moving the rock is about to begin.

When reaching the spot where we leave the beach, I looked back to see if the sun had come out of hiding yet, but it hadn’t.

It seemed like everyone’s sprinklers were on as we walked up the street, making everything in the yards look sparkling clean. I paused to take a look at another gated entrance, carved into the tall hedges.


I took a picture of this tree with the red flower spikes on it, so I could look it up to find out the name of it. I’ve seen several big, beautiful ones around the island and have been curious.

This is what I found out: It is a Schefflera; sometimes called an Umbrella tree or an Octopus Tree. Unfortunately, this Schefflera is also on Florida's "Don't Plant" list of nuisance trees. Schefflera is a nuisance for three reasons:

It seeds itself very easily causing Schefflera to grow where no one wants a large tree.
Roots are strong, aggressive and can take over much of the surrounding soil.
Schefflera sheds leaves constantly creating a littered appearance below.

What a shame, I really liked that tree.

When we arrived back at our starting point, I could see the sun shining between the trees, so we’ll have a sunny day after all.

Until next time……


Did you know?

Loggerhead sea turtles are well adapted to life at sea, with long flippers and special glands so they can drink salt water. Some people think that when they lay eggs, they shed ‘Mother’s Tears’, but in fact she is just secreting salt that accumulates in her body.

They are relatively slow swimmers but will put on a burst of speed when threatened. (The largest natural threat to them at sea is sharks and killer whales).

Sea turtles cannot withdraw their heads into their shells; the adults are protected from predators by their shells, large size and thick scaly skin on their heads and necks.

The Turtle Race Has Begun!

A short while back I mentioned that the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, a non-profit group based out of Gainesville, was going to release sea turtles with satellite-tracking devices. Three days ago a 350 pound loggerhead turtle named Belle’o Brevard, was released at the Barrier Island Sanctuary in Melbourne Beach, while around 100 people watched. The loggerhead turtle was detained from the night before when she tried to lay eggs and had a transmitter attached to her back. She is one of eight turtles being released this week, on nesting beaches from Florida to Panama. The first turtle to travel 1,628 miles wins the marathon. This is to raise money to help save the sea turtles.

You can read the article in its entirety, watch a video clip and view the picture gallery at Florida Today.com.


The Caribbean Conservation Corporation of Gainesville also released the eigth turtle in the race, Lumiere, with a GPS transmitter and antenna affixed to her shell, in front of Disney's Vero Beach Resort, while hundreds of spectators applauded, Friday morning. Lumiere is the last of eight turtles — two each of leatherbacks, loggerheads, hawksbills and greens — from Florida, Nevis, Panama and Costa Rica.

This article can also be read in its entirety at TC Palm, along with pictures

The plan is for researchers to learn more about their habits at sea and identify migratory patterns that may hold the key to their survival.

The public can follow the turtles' on their adventures online at http://www.tourdeturtles.org.

I certainly plan to watch, how about you?

Nest Statistics

Our Permittee sent out an email to us with the nesting stats today:

One new nest and two hatches:

NEW
Wednesday, July 30th - Zone 2 - Nest #33 - west of Sanibel Inn

Here are the nests in each zone:

Zone 1 – Nests #3 - hatched on Tuesday 7/29 was dug on Friday 8/1 - 111 hatched, 4 unhatched and 2 live - released in a.m.... #5 hatched on Friday 8/1 - will be dug on Monday - no details as yet, #26

Zone 2 - Nests #12, #28 and #33

Zone 3 - Nests #4, #8, #22, #23, and #30

Zone 4 – No nests yet

Zone 5 –#6, #7, #9, #17, #18, #21, and #31

Zone 6 - Nests #2, #10, #11, #13, #14, #15, #16, #19, #20, #24, #25, #27, #29, and #32

Turtle Nest Dig

We got an email from our Permittee a couple of days ago, telling us that one of the nests in our zone had hatched and there would be a dig on Friday morning at 7:30. Of course, we wanted to go see if there were any baby turtles still in the nest.

We were off bright and early, just after sunrise. We arrived at the Seagrape access around 6:45. The sun was up a little way and was really bright.

Just after we started walking, we met the Friday morning walkers for our zone. They told us that they thought another nest had hatched last night; they saw lots of tiny tracks.

We walked up to that nest first and there they were, lots of tiny little turtle tracks coming from the nest which had an open hole in it now. Looking behind the nest, we saw a couple of dead babies and an empty egg sack.

As we turned to walk away, we noticed that there was a rather steep drop off , which was right above the high tide line. You could see tracks that looked like some of them had slid down and probably right into the water, because there were no tracks any further than that. There was a really high tide last night. Those were some pretty smart little turtles to come out when the water was right at their door. I would love to have seen all of them running to the water.

As we left that nest, we ran across a little sand art again.










We met several other people by then, who had come to watch the dig too. By 7:30 the people came to dig the nest, a nice couple who had their two children with them. They first checked out the freshly hatched nest. He took the two dead babies a little way from the nest and buried them in the sand. I think the purpose was to help keep animals away from the nest, keeping it safe until they dig it in a few days.

The gentleman dug into the opening left at the other nest and came out with one little turtle, placing it in a bucket with some sand. After digging a little while longer, he found a second one. He continued digging and took out all of the empty egg sacks that could be found. They laid them out on the sand so that they could be counted and the number recorded. I really don’t know enough about it to be sure, but it looked like there were 3 or 4 eggs that didn’t hatch. I’m sure the number hatched, etc. will be sent out later.




























We watched along with the others, as the turtles were released and went into the water. One of them went up behind a board that was lying in its path and it acted like it couldn’t get around it, so the board was picked up and off it went into the water. They were swept away as they paddled like crazy.

What a great way to start a day!

Walk #13

This morning we left for the beach with anticipation because one of our nests is due to hatch Tuesday. In my mind, I had visions of walking up near that nest today and seeing tiny little turtles running for the water. So, we hurried out to begin our walk. (Plus, I had a new toy to try out; a new cell phone with a better camera than my last one. The phone is much handier than carrying a camera because I always have it in my pocket anyway and with carrying bags of trash, hands full, etc…….you know the story.)

There were lots of dark clouds, and we could hear thunder as we left to go to the beach. This was the first time we had been threatened with rain on one of our ‘Turtle Walk’ mornings.

When we arrived, there was just a hint of pink showing behind the silhouette of the palms. There was not much breeze to meet us and there was a lot of humidity in the air, making the temperature feel pretty warm.




The sun was still hidden just below the horizon, with clouds in the way; so it took a little longer for it to peek out today.



The waves were small this morning and didn’t seem to be bringing in any shells. There was seaweed scattered in the tide lines.



I heard thunder once again and looked toward the north and saw the edge of some rain clouds. Somehow the sun rays were shining under part of the clouds, making it look like the sun was actually hiding behind it.



Looking toward the west, there were more clouds. Again the sun made it look as though it was hiding in the middle, peaking out. The clouds were much darker near the horizon.



Turning toward the south, I was surprised that it once again looked like the sun was shining through clouds. Today’s sunrise made a beautiful panorama for our viewing pleasure.



Surprisingly, there was little trash from where we began until the light house area. Most of it was small things, like plastic bags, cellophane wrappers, straws, little sand shovel, tiny little flip flops, t shirt, etc.

There were holes dug here and there on the beach, but not as many as there had been on previous walks.

There was one humongous pile of sand that was shaped to look like a huge alligator lying in a basin. I can’t imagine how long it must have taken to dig and pile all the sand that had been moved. The entire alligator had a row of seaweed from its head to the tip of its tail.



As I looked back at the Alligator, whose name I think was Sandy, I noticed the dark clouds were beginning to catch up to us, so we picked up our pace a little. There were several people on the beach, some walking and jogging, others searching for shells. I noticed a few of them looking up at the clouds too.



Straight ahead, the sun was still working to climb up from behind clouds.



As we got near the light house, the clouds hiding the sun had finally moved enough for it to glow brighter and brighter.



We checked our last nest at this point and it looked fine; just as the other two had. There was no hatch, no tiny turtle tracks anywhere.



The tide was in, and as we started around the tip of the island, the beach area was entirely covered with water. We had to turn around and walk back a little way to use a narrow path that takes you around the houses , to the other side of the light house.



After leaving the light house area, we kept taking paths back and forth between trees and bushes, but couldn’t walk on the beach again until very near the fishing pier.



On one of those little paths, there was a man nearly hidden by the bushes, as he set up his tripod and camera to take pictures.



Looking at the clouds as we approached the fishing pier was a little daunting. There was a need to hurry even faster now!



Even as the clouds kept moving closer, it didn’t seem to bother the fishermen.



It looked like the clouds were just going to come right down onto the pier.



We stopped to pick up some fishing line lying on the sand with a hook still attached. That should save someone’s bare foot. As I looked up again, the clouds seemed to be hovering over the bay and the causeway.



Two young men were, standing waist deep in the water, fishing. As we got closer, I realized they were the same guys that had been there fishing when we saw the little camp set up a couple of weeks before. There had been a lady and a child sleeping there as we passed by. That time they left all of their empty beer bottles, soda cans, water bottles, at least 50 tissues scattered under the bushes, and other trash. There had been fishing line tangled in the bushes, as if they had changed the line on their poles and just left the old line behind.



I think smoke may have started coming out of my ears, when I got closer and saw their tent and campsite there once again. The lady and child were in the little tent, sleeping once again. Cans and bottles were scattered on the sand, along with stuff hanging on the limbs. I went past and then turned around to go back. I stood there looking at those two men, looked back at the trash, and then took another picture, this time of the camp site and their mess. The men looked at me and one of them yelled out, “Hello”. I said hello back and then asked if they would do me a favor. They smiled and shook their heads yes. I asked them if they would please pick up all of their trash before they left. They smiled and assured me that they certainly would and that they always do. I told them that I knew they didn’t because when they were in that same spot a couple weeks ago; we had to pick up all the trash they left behind. They got a strange look on their face and said they were sorry and would make sure they got it all cleaned up this time. Of course after having picked up all those tissues last time, that just didn’t seem good enough, so I said, "The things you leave behind, endanger the lives of wildlife and it is also, simply inconsiderate. I’m sure you know it’s illegal to camp on the beach, and sooner or later, you will get caught.” Ok, after that it was time to walk away and cool off!



Just past the seawalls, there were two men in a boat using a cast net. The birds were flying around and one landed on the front of their boat and stood there waiting for a hand out.



The last portion of our walk was difficult because the beach area was covered with water again, so we had to detour again.



Looking back at the old ‘Guardian of the Sea’ tree, you can see we had to walk around it this morning instead of taking our usual path over its roots.



We were very fortunate to have walked all the way around, threatened by the clouds, and hadn’t felt a drop of rain. Even when there are clouds looming overhead, it’s still a beautiful day here on Sanibel.



We reached the end of our walk rather tired today because of zigzagging around the high tide, and one of us did get a little hot under the collar while acting like the 'Beach Police'.



Talk about perfect timing; five minutes later the rain started coming down. So all in all, it was a great morning, even though we didn’t get to see any turtles.


Did You Know?

Within the first 12 hours after the turtle lays her eggs, the vitelline membrane (the cell wall of the egg that plays an important role in gas exchange through the egg wall) attaches to the interior of the egg shell. If the egg is moved after the attachment forms, the membrane will detach from the egg wall and development will stop. If eggs must be moved for any reason, researchers try to move them within a few hours after a turtle has nested. If it has been six hours or more, great care must be given.