Final Inventory of the 2009 Season was completed at 6:30 on Monday, Occtober 19th.

Nest #35 did pretty well despite all the rain and drastic temperature changes.  46 of its 80 eggs developed into hatchlings that successfully emerged from the nest and are hopefully now eating well and growing strong in the warm Gulf Stream sargasso.

It was a good season.  Thanks for following along with us and for supporting Folly’s turtles.  We’re already looking foward to mid-May 2010 when the sea turtle nesting cycle begins again.

Sharon reported that Nest #35 has a “crater!”  The crater (a sunken bowl shape) is a good indication that hatchlings are moving around under the sand, getting themselves ready for their emergence and dash to the ocean.  That’s very exciting news!

Still sittin’ pretty, Folly’s last loggerhead nest of the season (#35) is being closely watched.  It’s expected to hatch some time during the next week or two.   Assuming all goes well, we’ll announce its emergence and scheduled inventory very soon.

Folly's last nest of the season

We hate reporting that Nests #33 and #34 in the County Park were washed away during last week’s series of freakish high tides.  We estimate that about 150-175 hatchlings were lost.

The tides came in quietly, but swiftly about a week before new moon and pulled sand and sea grasses off of the dune line.  They weren’t fierce, but were relentless in their damage.  Even the low tides weren’t all that low, continuing to flatten and draw sand into the ocean, then being followed by the more silently destructive high tides that quickly ate away at the dunes.

It will take County Park a long time to recover.

On Saturday, August 22 at 6:30 a.m., Judi and Linda hosted a group of 9 enthusiastic SC Aquarium members on a turtle walk through the Folly Beach County Park.

In addition to enjoying the sunrise, the group learned about the whys and hows of Folly’s nest protection program.

It was a little late in the season to see tracks or nests, but a nest had hatched a couple of days earlier and needed to be inventoried (that is, the nest opened and the contents counted for statistical purposes).  The group was able to observe this process and appreciate the turtles’ (and the volunteers’) experience even more.

Thanks so much for coming out to Folly, and especially for your interest in sea turtle survival!

We owe major thanks to visitors and to Betty and her family for rescuing 50 hatchlings from fire ants at Nest #18 on Friday.

Ants had attacked the nest and already stung and killed 20 hatchlings with their powerful venom.  Betty emptied the nest to free live hatchlings and reburied unhatched eggs in a new location.  They’ll now have a much better chance to emerge successfully.

Nest invasion by fire ants is not new.  Folly lost the majority of hatchlings from 6 six nests several years ago.  They haven’t been a big problem in the past couple of years, but the potential is always there.  Unlike ghost crabs that might take a few hatchlings during a hatchout, the ants attack the whole clutch underground as the hatchlings begin to emerge from their eggs.  The entire nest becomes quickly infested and there’s little we can do to remedy the situation.

Fortunately, thanks to excellent observation and reporting by our visitors and Betty’s quick and thoughtful actions, hatchlings were saved from this nest.

~~~ And there’s more to the story …

“We were walking the beach Friday morning and talked to a nice lady at Nest #18 (Betty?) who told us the fire ants had attacked the nest. She said she had buriedsome dead ones and had put 33 live ones in the water. We could look in the hole and see some remaining eggs and the ants.

We stopped by the nest a few minutes later and spotted a live hatchling trying to get out and being chased by ants. I called the 800 number on the sign and told them the situation; they said we should put it in the water. I pulled the hatchling out, [took] off the ants, and put it in water right at the edge of the beach. We watched it scrambling toward the waves, fighting the water that was rolling in. It made it’s way into the surf and deeper water, coming up for air from time to time until we lost sight of it.

Later that evening, we stopped by again and saw that the rest of the eggs had been moved and the hole filled it. It was exciting to watch the little one try for safety, and we will like to think it made it. Hope the rest of the eggs hatch and survive.”

Thank you, Bill & Family from Atlanta, Greensboro (NC) and Buckley (WA) for sharing your story and for your hatchling rescue!

Non-nesting (false) crawl at 317 East Arctic.

The turtles keep reminding us … it’s not over yet!

Juanita found a false crawl near 317 East Arctic, and Susie found Nest #35 near 11th Street East walkover.

Shannon checked both out and helped Susie to move the 80+ eggs to a safer location near 1009 East Ashley to protect them from the late summer storms and root entrapment.

Thanks to Judi and Betty for the photos.

Hatchling from Nest #10 (photo by Betty)

Despite how it looks here on the website, nests are hatching well on Folly.   Trips away from the beach (and the Internet) and house guests have interrupted postings.  We’ll be up-to-date soon with hatchling counts for nests among the first fifteen, most of which have hatched.

Nest 34 in County Park

Just as we were thinking “the Mommas are gone,” Nest 34 arrived in County Park.  To ensure safety during the September storms that are likely to come roaring ashore, Judi moved the clutch further away from the ocean.  GREAT to have one more to watch!

Carol R, Mike and Judy K found Nest #32 near 803 West Ashley on Saturday morning.  Momma Turtle chose a good site, so the nest was left in situ.

Jaime and Beth found Nest #33 in the County Park just past the 3d beach access from the parking lot.  A very efficient turtle came in, nestted inside a sand fence and went back out almost over her in tracks.  Eggs were confirmed and left in situ.