A Turtle-y Day

Today, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves...



We had little loggerheads,



going for their first swims,



And stubborn little Kemp's,



refusing to crawl,



and some lovely Reddish Egrets as well...



There was even a banded PIPL (Piping plover).



Anyone recognize that banding pattern?

The Colors of a Pensacola Beach Morning

I had the Pensacola Beach turtle run this morning. I love turtle run days -- it's such a peaceful start, or sometimes end, to the work day. The colors today were overwhelming. Sometimes, they just don't seem possible in nature.



There's the gorgeous blue green water of the Gulf of Mexico...



The pink clouds lit by the still rising sun...



Sunrise itself...



The sea oats, dancing on in the breeze,



A ruddy turnstone skipping along the edge of the waves,



Even the lifeguard yellow flag, flapping in the breeze.



The cooler full of little loggerheads (Caretta caretta) were pretty colorful too.



Most of the hatchlings are in the Gulf already, but a few more are waiting to go til tonight as they were still pipped yesterday when I had to move their nest from the shrinking dune.

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!

Requiem for a Friend

If this picture had music, it would be a single, clear note; a tone calling the angels to welcome home one of their own.



The sun shines not on us, but in us. John Muir

Clay was a rare man; a man who used love, wisdom and compassion to change lives for the better. He was a beacon of light for the troubled, and a shelter in a storm. He was the very embodiment of serenity. He was a true friend, supportive, consistent, ever-present, ever-loved. Even in the face of his final battle, he lived with grace and joy. He made a larger impact in this small world than he will ever know, and will live on in the hearts of many for decades to come. You will be missed, my friend.

Tropical Storm Edouard

First, the good news... See nest number 44 (or is it 45 -- I meant to count this afternoon). I am so overdue on a nesting update for all the staff and volunteers! We have so many hatching at the moment that none of us have a spare minute, but we'll get it accomplished by Wednesday at the latest.



With TS Edouard spinning just offshore, making way for the Texas/Louisiana border, I had to relocate this lovely 103 egg nest to a dune just north east of the original site.



The storm will have little impact here, other than erosion and wave action. The seas are already pretty impressive.



The dunes are rapidly disappearing near Pensacola Pass.



The bad thing about this dune moving is that there's a nest on top that's expected to hatch by the end of the week.



That's a ten foot drop for the little babies!



I think it's quite likely I'll move this nest tomorrow morning and allow it to finish incubating in a cooler. With June 2nd nests already hatching, I imagine there are plenty of hatchlings in this nest, they're just not quite ready to emerge.



A cooler isn't the ideal environment, but it will protect them from the force of the storms increased wave action. They'll be safe from ghost crabs there as well. I just hope the dune holds until tomorrow morning -- I won't get out there until at least 3am.

Drowning Eggs, Mystery Nests and Loco Boomerang

It's been quite a week at Gulf Islands National Seashore. I must admit, the lack of sleep and constant mini-crises where rather tough on my nerves. At times, I need a clone or another biologist!



The week started off well with the offshore release of Loco Boomerang, our sea turtle escapee from Galveston. I was very excited that we didn't see him again for over 24 hours... He's still swimming around in the Gulf as I wait for more advice from the NMFS Galveston lab. Guess I should take the time to call there, huh?



With so many nests due to hatch, most of the rest of the week was a whirlwind of listening for hatchlings, setting (and building) screens, nest sitting, nest assessments and hatchling releases.



I seem to always have a cooler of hatchlings with yolk sacs these days -- maybe 72 to 96 hours isn't long enough for all the hatchlings to emerge on their own...



There are still new nests as well.



This one on Perdido had a wandering crawl over half a mile long.



She also had some rather odd eggs -- there's another snowman egg and spacers here -- I really wish we saw the nesting mothers more often!



We had a few drowning nests as well. Since we have to wait til two weeks after a nest has been laid to move it, if we don't relocate it within 12 hours, we had to just watch these nests get closer and closer to the Gulf as first H. Dolly, then another storm front eroded over 35 feet of beach in less than two weeks...



While I was moving this precarious nest, I got a call about an unknown nest hatching on Perdido Key. I have no photos as visitors to the park escorted all the hatchlings to the Gulf.



It sounds like a Kemp's nest based on their descriptions, but I have to find the nest to be able to tell for certain. Having this photo of the two most common species this year together really helps! With all the recent rain and heavy foot traffic in that area of the park, I may not be able to locate the remaining hatchlings and eggs.



Somewhere in there, I actually had a leisurely day to spend on a bird survey, on my favorite north shore in the Santa Rosa area.



Aren't these semipalmated plovers handsome birds?




Who said reddish egrets are solitary birds?



We don't usually have them in the park, so it was exciting to see so many!



I have the most wonderful job, even if it means subsisting on about 2 hours of sleep a night during the turtle season. That just means the animals are doing well!