Calle Hermosa Hatchlings!

When I arrived at the Calle Hermosa nest this evening, it was clearly time for hatchlings! The opening under this sign is the nest 'coning'. From the beach, you could even see a little loggerhead poking his head up through the sand.



The hatchlings emerged after dark, so there are no photos of them from last night, though there are quite a few from this morning! DJ, The Barrier Island Girl, waited with us for most of the evening as well. After sitting with the nest with about 20 guests for hours, we set 82 little loggerheads free in the Gulf of Mexico. By dawn, three more where in the Gulf.



I left the nest around 6am, and the nest seemed fine. Within thirty minutes, one of our turtle volunteers called on her morning patrol to let us know there was a ghost crab in the nest!



Monica and I decided to go out and take the remaining eggs and hatchlings early, relocating the entire nest to a cooler.



About a dozen little ones will be ready to go after sunset this evening. A single ghost crab could have destroyed the rest of the pipped and hatched eggs in the nest, and that is not cool!