Perdido Key and Eduoard

Eduoard continued his track west, but not without taking more of our dunes.



He also left a boat ashore on Perdido Key.



Check out this nest -- it's even closer to the edge than yesterday, and it's due to hatch in about two days. How precarious is that first 'step' for the little guys? I think I may have to take them to another stretch of beach to introduce them to the Gulf of Mexico.



We're fortunate to have so many sea oats to help hold the dunes, and the island, together, even in the face of the battering waves. Their delicate seedheads belie the strength of their underground root system.



There was one more loggerhead hatchling from PK6021 this morning.



Unfortunately, it looked like a ghost crab had attacked it. I'm not sure how he'll do in the Gulf.



See the neat anomaly on his vertebral scutes? I keep calling this hatchling a him, but I don't know if it's male or female.



S/he seems to be swimming in a heart of bubbles. It will take that to help this little loggerhead survive amidst all the obstacles ahead.



It was still a beautiful morning on the Key, but then, isn't it always gorgeous in paradise?



The egrets seem to agree...



What a wonderful life!