Ike Introduces the Gulf of Mexico to the Bay

Mark asked me to join him this evening to assess a nest on Fort Pickens. After all that had happened with Ike over the last two days, I wasn't sure I wanted to, but I'll go to extremes for the sea turtles!



Once we arrived at the Fort Pickens area, we unlocked the gate and attempted to drive down the Fort road on the sand covered pavement. For the last few years, the road has only extended about a mile and a half past the closure area, where a large breach has persisted since Hurricane Ivan.

About 50 feet from the gate, it was evident that even a 4-wheel drive was no match for this road. All the sand that had piled up on the beaches after Hurricane Gustav was now on the road, leaving soft, boggy sand. We backed the truck out of the park, and started to hike to the nest, about two miles west of the gate.



On the way to the nest area, we passed through several areas where water rushed over the road, others where small waves occasionally crashed on the asphalt, 100 yards north of the current tide line. Gusts helped us walk faster, but we knew they'd make the return trip arduous! At one point, we walked through a deep gully, turning back to watch as a huge stacked wave rushed through just behind us, knocking down a visitor heading in the opposite direction. Mark stopped to talk with her as she held her ground against the long rush of water. I know how scared she must have been -- I was there last night! It had knocked her to her knees, but she was lucky. It was very apparent that she could have been swept to the Bay, which was a sobering thought as we continued west, on a quest to assess a nest.



A few hundred yards later, we reached the end of the known road (though I think we'll find the road now ends in that gully once the water clears!). There was a solid sea from the Gulf to Pensacola, with the island representing a submerged sand bar in the middle. We debated slogging through the water to get to the nest, but the lesson we had just learned in the gully gave us pause. Mark and I could both wash out to sea, but Mark was a Marine, and, like me, doesn't like to give up on getting a job done.



I'm not sure if Mark would have attempted to reach the nest alone - he may have. Perhaps having a tiny turtle girl along made him more cautious and he decided we should leave the nest for another day. Seeing the water rush over the island, we had no way of knowing if the nest was still there anyway!

The walk back was a little more difficult. At times, the wind blew steadily over 25mph, though a more consistent 15 to 20. After a very long and stressful day, it was taxing, and a great relief to get back to the trucks, now determined to check on the rest of the nests on Pensacola Beach.



Pensacola 7111 had already hatched, 7081 (at Starboard Village) had already washed away (sad) and 8201 was doing well. In retrospect, I wish 7081 was higher on the dunes to begin with -- it's always a challenge to pick a good spot, trying to allow for both storm tides and sea oat roots. This time, my judgement was wrong -- the nest should have been higher, even though that means the hatchlings may have to struggle with the roots that grow over the two month incubation period. It's a lesson learned for next year...

We did attept to access the Santa Rosa area as well, but we quickly turned back. Even the road near Park East was a river! As DJ referred to in her article, I am clearly crazy.