This brave turtle came ashore in the four wheel drive beach. She avoided passing cars, and laid the second nest of the season. We appreciate all those driving on the 4×4 beach who pay special attention at night for nesting turtles on the beach. If you see a sea turtle nesting, call the NEST hotline at 252-441-8622.
Turtle track and car tracks share the beach landscape
The Responding Team arrives and assess the nest site. They determine the turtle’s incoming and outgoing tracks. They look for a body pit where the turtle leaves a big indent in the sand as she digs an egg chamber. And the team looks for a mound of sand behind the body pit where the eggs are most likely buried.
Responding Team of Tony P, Ginny R, Andy G and Cathy B
Nest site with body pit and mound of sand where eggs were found
The Team also had a local, one of our wild mustangs, overseeing their work at the nest site.
Wild Horse passing by the nest site
The egg Chamber is quickly found and data loggers are added to the site. The data loggers record the hourly temperature in and around the nest as the eggs are developing. This helps predict when our little hatchlings are due to emerge. Reptile incubation is based on a nests average temperature. A hotter nest will emerge sooner than a cooler nest.
Egg Chamber
Adding Data logger into the nest
Finally the finishing touches are put around the nest to keep it safe while we wait for the hatchlings to emerge. Thank you Nest 2 Responding Team and ATV patrol – great job!
Nest 2 Responding Team
We want to give a special shout out to our navy nest guardians Ryan and Squid – thank you for watching over the nest and late night escapee hatchlings.
- nest number: 2
- town: Carova
- date eggs laid: 06/12/2023
- actual emergence date: 8/12/2023
- live hatchlings: 114
- total eggs: 122
See all active nests