Boats and Turtles Don't Mix...

I had to necropsy a dead sea turtle today. Don't worry -- I won't share the pictures!I really don't like necropsies. A sub-adult Kemp's Ridley washed up on Perdido Key after being hit by a boat. It's so sad to see that as a turtle at this stage has already outgrown most predators and had a very good chance of reaching maturity. We need adult turtles so we can have more nests and save these species from extinction. I buried it on the beach with a small crowd watching. Unfortunately, they had never seen a live turtle, so this was their first introduction.

I spent the rest of the day counting shorebirds on the north and south shores of Perdido -- it's something we do every ten days on the north shore and sixty times a year on the south shore. It's actually a lot of fun. There are a handful of little pocket beaches amidst the salt marshes on the north shore -- no one ever goes there. There were flocks of monarchs playing in the breeze, flitting from sea oats to sea ox-eye daisy, coloring the day. I love the way the sun creates shadows in their wings.



Heading back west, I surveyed the south shore, and stopped to pick up trash. A couple saw me struggling with a huge length of wire and actually stopped to help. They restored my faith in people -- not everyone is just throwing their beer cans in the sea :) After my week at Fort Pickens, I really needed that!

I think this picture sums up how I was feeling about trash yesterday. This crab was hanging out on the south shore, just getting a little sun on a chilly Saturday morning...