In order to get to this unihabited barrier island, we take
a boat out at sunrise. Once we’re out on
the boat with the wind in our faces, we are usually lucky enough to witness the
most beautiful, captivating sunrises you can imagine. This is good, as it reminds me of why I wake
up at such an ungodly hour to volunteer with U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s (FWS) loggerhead
sea turtle nest protection efforts. It’s
the most beautiful view and being on the water is so serene. I can’t even
explain how refreshed it makes you feel.
As soon as we arrive at Cape Romain, we inventory all of the
sea turtle nests on the island. This
means we dig up each nest that has already hatched, count the number of hatched
shells, bad eggs (eggs that never hatched), live turtles, and dead turtles. It
can be determined if a nest has hatched by looking for hatchling tracks and a
slight concavity or indent in the sand. If
we are lucky, we might come across a little live hatchling that may have gotten
stuck in the roots or could not make it out with the rest of them. I promise you, these little nuggets are the
cutest creatures you will ever see. Their
willpower to get to the ocean is absolutely ridiculous. Hatchlings have a long way to crawl before
they reach the water, and along the way they need to avoid many predators such
as ghost crabs, sea gulls, and raccoons.
The strength that they possess in those little flippers astounds
me. Though they are tough, it has
actually been estimated that only 1 in 1000 hatchlings will make it to sexual
maturity (adulthood). In my opinion, having
the opportunity to see these little hatchlings trek it to the ocean, makes the
vicious flies worth enduring.
One of my most memorable experiences at Cape Romain this
year was when we arrived to the island and heard the screeching noises of very
excited sea gulls. Naturally, I just assumed the seagulls were ecstatic about a
floating piece of bread some fisherman had dropped. But I was clearly wrong. Jerry, a biologist
with FWS, started yelling for us to grab buckets and to follow him. We were sprinting after him with no idea what
was happening, until I saw about 50 seagulls flying around a nest that was in
the process of hatching. I was getting
to see a nest hatch! We shooed all the annoying seagulls away and watched as about
80 baby sea turtles emerged from the sand.
Absolutely incredible! As they began to crawl towards the ocean we would
pick them up and place them in a bucket in order to later release them to the
ocean where there were no seagulls around to snatch them up.
The exhausting day of field works comes to an end after we’ve
checked all the nests, and we get back on the boat. On the ride back to the dock at McClellanville,
we often see great horned owls (my favorite), peregrine falcons, dolphins, bonnet
head sharks, and many other beautiful animals along with the breath-taking
scenery. The last, most satisfying perk
at the end of the long but amazing day is always eating my peanut butter and
jelly sandwich on the car ride home, and looking forward to the next week of
inventory!
Unfortunately, loggerhead nesting season has now come to an
end and my time at Cape Romain has finished for this year. But being able to witness a nest hatching is
an experience I will never forget. Times
like these are the little pieces of natural beauty that one gets to experience
on a day out at Cape Romain, and something that will be held onto forever. Yes, you will most likely get eaten alive by
monstrous black flies, but I promise you it will be worth every single bug bite.
Kelly Lane
STRP Fall 2013 Intern
Get up close to 19 sea turtle patients as well as 38 hatchlings by taking a behind-the-scenes tour of the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital at 11:30am or 1pm. There is a small fee in addition to Aquarium admission.
