Earlier this Spring I joined the Longboat Key Turtle Watch and went through the training to become a non-permitted volunteer. I wanted to find a way to journal this experience so I can remember the details of each patrol - what we see, what we do and share with those who are interested. Each week I'll share about our patrol that morning and give you some info about the turtles, turtle season and what we do on patrol. Luckily I remembered I had this blog from several years ago when I was doing some photo challenges!
Today was our second patrol. Last week I was too nervous to take photos along the way but I did see my first ghost crab and saw about 30 dolphins frolicking in the water. This week I did take some pictures. There was excitement among the volunteers this morning because the 1st two nests of the season were laid yesterday! Turtle season officially starts May 1st so these 2 are the types that come early to a party. We didn't find a nest in our zone today but we did have a "false crawl" - see below for pictures!
See you next week where I'll answer the question - "Why are you volunteering for Turtle Patrol, Becky?" Let me know if you have other questions!
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| Mike, our Permitted Volunteer |
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| Evidence of "false crawl" where the mama turtle comes up on the beach and decides not to lay her nest - wasn't the right time, or just checking out her options. Turtle patrol puts an X through it to indicate that it's been logged. |
Loggerhead turtle tracks - more about tracks in a future post!
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| Trash clean up is part of every patrol straws, cups, cans headband were part of the collection today |
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| Where's the rest of the boat? Wall from the "head" - note the toilet paper holder on left... Hope the people are ok! |
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| Some beautiful beach art - all natural! Will be interesting to see if a mama turtle chooses this spot for her nest
By the numbers so far
For our team:
Nests: 0
Hatched: 0
Overall:
Nests: 2
Hatched: 0
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