Network for Endangered Sea Turtles

Site Identification

   When a crawl is found on the beach the first step is to determine whether or not the crawl resulted in a nest (non-nesting crawls are also known as false crawls, half-moons and dry-runs).  In most cases, non-nesting crawls are easily distinguished from nesting emergences because there will be little to no disturbed or excavated sand associated with the crawl.  However, females will sometimes begin digging a nest chamber, give up and return to the water without laying any eggs.  She may even make several separate nesting attempts, leaving a series of abandoned nest cavities before returning to the water.  Under these circumstances, it is difficult to visually identify these crawls as non-nesting events.

  
   You can distinguish between the arrival and departure crawl by looking for the direction that the sand is pushed in while the turtle was crawling (A and D in the figure). Also, examining the tracks and their relationship to the high tide line (E) can help determine the arrival crawl. Once determined, follow the arrival crawl up to the area where the sand is disturbed.

   In the disturbed sand area (B and C in the figure), there may be two “body pits” or differentiated areas of digging. The primary body pit is the larger of the two (C) and usually the turtle makes this just before digging the nest chamber. The smaller chamber (B) is made after nesting, when the turtle covers and camouflages the site. False crawls with disturbed sand usually will not have a well-defined secondary body pit.


Go back to Turtle Facts