Pensacola Beach After Ike

Before heading out to the Santa Rosa area this morning, I stopped in Pensacola Beach to pick up the salty ATV, and check on conditions in the Gulf, and any nests I could easily access.



The nest DJ and I released the other morning was still getting washed regularly. I'm happy we were able to help those little loggerheads make their way to the sea.



PB nest 8201 fared better. Though wave washed, the water had piled sand on top of the nest and it appeared to drain very quickly. Once the surf has calmed a bit, we'll remove the excess sand so incubation temperatures are not artificially altered, and the hatchlings don't have those added 24 inches of sand to crawl through!



The area in Park East near the nest was smoothed by constant wave action. The beach was beautiful, if a little wet!



The sea oats the Santa Rosa Island Authority planted did their job well, holding the dunes together. The next batch are on their way, taking root in well-planned rows just north of the sand fencing. Their roots do such a great job holding sand in place!



Occasional waves were still washing the walkovers, but this is nothing compared to what folks are now facing in Texas. We're happy we didn't see Ike hit the panhandle, but sad to see anyone in its path...

First Look at Santa Rosa in Daylight...

I headed out to Santa Rosa today in an attempt to check on the island, and nests SR7081 and SR 7111. No one had been out there since my water-soaked journey the other night.

Mark and I had tried to get to the Santa Rosa are Thursday, and found the road flooded and covered with sand, so I drove to Navarre Beach to access the park from the east gate.



I was happy to see Navarre Beach had their double red flags out, which makes it illegal to swim in the Gulf. It's a great idea as it protects visitors, and lifeguards alike! It's so easy to underestimate the power of the surf, or think you're invincible. Believe me, none of us is!



Even though the surf was much calmer than yesterday, Navarre Beach was flooded. That didn't bode well for the park!



As the surf continued to flow over the berm at intervals, it was apparent the water would be there for a while longer. It's a good thing the rebuilt houses are all up so high!



The entrance to the Park was a bit flooded as well, so I parked my truck and ATV outside the gate and prepared to walk through the water, hopefully far enough to check the nests I'd left the other night.



With the decreasing tide and surf, and sunlight, it was easier to see the road. It's there, just a bit buried under sand and water.



I didn't make it all the way to Opal Beach as it would have taken hours, and there were still other areas to check. I'll be out there tomorrow though -- hope to see some of you back out on the beach, even if it's still too rough for a swim!

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.

Hurricane Ike Irks Island Waters

Hurricane Ike is passing well to our south, headed west to visit Texas or Louisiana, but we can still feel the strength of the storm here, especially as we watch over our turtles nests! Mark, park VIP DJ and I watched over PB7111 for a bit in the late evening, with Mark eventually determining it was most likely safe, and it was, at least until about 0200.

I left the Pensacola Beach nest to check on Santa Rosa nests 7081 and 7111. One nest had 62 hatchlings a little past midnight, that all went for a very harrowing first swim. They all seemed to do very well though! After chatting with Mark, I stayed a while longer to listen to both nests, then planned to head home, checking on the Pensacola Beach nest on the way.

Leaving was not such an easy prospect. At first, the tide was just high in the Opal Beach area, but it wasn't that significant.

Once I got about a mile west on my little Honda ATV, water was covering the road.

By the time I had traveled another half-mile, there was water running across the island, with the occasional wave crashing across it. Water surrounded me on all sides, though most of it was only a few inches deep.

Since it was 0230, it was hard to see the extent and depth of the flooding, especially in the distance. I started to panic a little. Do I risk the few inches of water on the road, knowing there's a huge breach in the road that I may not be able to see? Should I head for the few inches of running water on sand that could be lik driving through quick sand? Or just find a high dune and park? It was clear that water was rushing across the island, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Bay, and high tide was still almost 5 hours away. Standing still didn't seem like a very good option!

I could feel myself losing control, and knew that would be even more dangerous. I had no choice but to talk myself through, or wait like a sitting duck as the water rose around me. Not my idea of a fun activity in the wee hours of the morning.

As you may imagine, it took longer than normal to exit the park, so my work plans were a little delayed, and the combination of fatigue and supressed fear was overwhelming. Once I finally got back to the main road, things were still flooded. My nerves sure had a workout, and did not appreciate the water that knew no boundaries -- not the gulf, the dunes,the nests, the roads, nothing was safe!

The nest on Pensacola Beach that had been ten feet from the water when DJ left at midnight now had waves washing as far as 20 feet north of the hatchling chamber (we knew the eggs had hatched as we'd heard them crawling towards the surface for a few days). I called Mark for a little advice, and Monica and DJ for a little help.



DJ, Monica and I helped a nest full of hatchlings get to the water by about 0500 this morning. We were completely drenched in the process, planting our feet firmly in the sand when the largest waves came in so we wouldn't accidentally step on hatchlings tossed in the surf. I think the tiny turtles did better than we did!



Once all 70 loggerheads were in the water, several washed back on the higher-than-normal surf.



Thirteen made their way north, towards a Gulf Power streetlamp. Happily, we found their tracks and recaptured and released the wayward turtles. Disorientation can have a lethal result if they're not found in time...



After that, I tried to check on a nest at Fort Pickens, but my little work truck didn't seem like a match for the flooded road...



in either direction...

After getting hopelessly lost in the Santa Rosa area earlier, looking for a safe way out of the very flooded park, my frazzled nerves couldn't handle any more flood water!



Even the Beach Patrol seemed to think we should stay out of the water, with red flags flying high.



Some of the waves crashed over the long Pensacola Beach pier. A pier employee said there's already damage along the end, and we're not even within 400 miles of Ike!



Quiet Water Beach is flooded as well.



Weather forecasts indicate tonight's tides will be higher. I'm not so sure I'm up for another night nest sitting like last night! I feel bad for the people who will really bear the brunt of this storm -- we're hundreds of miles away and still seeing much impact!

Pensacola Beach and Gustav

I didn't spend much time on the beach today. Somehow, my five foot three, hundred pound frame doesn't stand up well in the TS force winds...



I did, however, check on all of our Pensacola Beach nests. The above, PB 7111, was moved to the sand fence yesterday. The sand fence didn't do too well, but we're hopeful the nest will survive it's early introduction to the Gulf.



All were well washed.



Some had several feet of sand over them...



I was unable to check nests on Santa Rosa and Fort Pickens as the roads were impassable and Fort Pickens has breached. That's probably a good thing as there are still rainbands and tornado warnings...



Can you tell I'm a little over-protective of my turtles? My future kids are going to hate me!

Loggerheads Everywhere

I've been remiss in posting the last few days as we got ready for Gustav. We had many nests to move, meetings to attend and all that jazz. We still had tiny turtles too!



These loggerheads are from two different nests, with this photo just taken for comparison. The larger of the two is from Santa Rosa 6241, the smaller from Fort Pickens 6241. The variability within the species in terms of color, size, etc. is so amazing! This isn't the best comparison, but it's what I saw that day.



We had to release stragglers on two separate beaches, but the turtles did well playing follow the leader!

Sea Turtles and Hurricanes

Over the last few days, many people have asked me about sea turtles and hurricanes. Since I'm not a sea turtle, all I can comment on is what I've observed over my many years working with them. The most revealing lesson was from the Leeward Island's hawksbills...



I spent 1998 in Antigua, working with hawksbill sea turtles on Jumby Bay. These skittish animals often nested under sea grapes and button mangroves, like this beauty here.



We satellite tracked about 20 of them in the Caribbean that year, from Barbados to the Yucatan. It allowed us to see what areas they utilized as internesting habitat, and where their home/feeding range was once they were finished nesting.



My colleague, Jordanna, and I followed each turtle on our beach and had a saturation tagging program, meaning we were on the beach every single night from 7 pm to sunrise, documenting each nest and tagging turtles new to the population. We never missed a night, or a nest. We knew each turtle pretty well, and saw them from five to seven times each as they came every two weeks to lay their eggs. Their patterns were pretty predictable, and the satellite tags reinforced and deepened our understanding of their behaviors.



In mid-September of '98, we noticed something very strange. One of our favorite turtles, Wrong Way Peach Fuzz, was swimming south, heading for deep water over two hundred miles away.



Since we knew she was due for a nest, we were confused. Peach Fuzz often did strange things, like swimming in the Follett's pool, but she was a regular nesting female. We never knew quite what to expect from her, but we knew to expect her!



At the time, there was a small hurricane storming across the Atlantic, forecast to swing north of us as a Cat I or II, but the turtles knew better! Once Hurricane Georges finished his trek across the Atlantic, he paused, intensified, and walloped Antigua. We lost 100 nests, representing about 10,000 eggs, hatchlings and potential hatchlings. The next morning, there were eggs everywhere,and hatchlings with yolk sacs tangled in tree branches and debris, drowned by the storm.



We even lost our gorgeous home. The country lost a lot more.



We were relieved to have the turtles return to the beach very soon after Georges, though there was still debris everywhere!

Guess Peach Fuzz and her cohorts knew what they were doing! Always believe what animals forecast -- they seem to read something that we have forgotten how to understand as we allow technology to cloud our instincts. Hope we'll get that magic back sometime soon!

As for this storm season, all I can say is that the turtles and the jellies and the sargassum came early. The Gulf seemed to warm early as well. Otherwise, the weather reminds me of that summer, long ago. For now, forecasters think TS Fay will swing east of us, which is good news indeed. I'm still moving some turtle nests though -- I learned that lesson very well!

Sea Turtles Made of Sand

I didn't take my new camera out today. I'm a little protective of it and it looked like rain, so these are from my old Canon PowerShot, but they're still lovely.



I'm starting to think there won't be a turtle nest anytime I see a sand turtle on the beach. I wonder if it's a self-fulfilling prophecy...



Of course, there were Gators there too. I wonder if people would be upset if I made a big Georgia BullDawg next to the Florida Gator.



We spent a little time at Fort Pickens today too. Our new SCA intern, Michelle, is still learning her way around, so I showed her the Captain's house, the place where we're supposed to live,



and the Museum, which is back in place and having a new porch installed. We didn't like Ivan's renovation ideas, so we're slowly restoring all the buildings.



The Fort itself is still in pretty good shape.



If you consider how many hurricanes this fort has been through, it's amazing that it's still standing strong!



Even the arches



and stairways still look good...



But my favorite place is still the wetlands at the Fort Entrance.