Turtle Nest Hatching 8 12 09 Gulf Shores Alabama B3

[boppyx3]

wow, that is so cool! Great job in helping these babies. They have a tough time surviving oil spills , pollution, and predators but at least they have a good start thanks to people like you! Keep up the good work...

[Fireball128934675]

as much as i don't want them to be eaten. Protecting them disrupts nature, yes it's cruel but humans shouldn't disrupt the natural order of things.

[layla1423xo]

so beautiful i want to help

[The1TubeYou1]

i live in gulf shores and ive never seen this

[SherrySander]

Never gets old does it!

[dawmlw]

Our protocol does not allow us to touch the hatchings without gloves @ we aren't suppose to just "pick them up" unless there is a need. Wish we could but it has to do with the tranfer of bacteria plus, they need the walk to the water to get themselves all stretched out for that dip in the water - kind of like exercise prior to the big event. Once the mothers lay the eggs, she is done with them. She lays eggs on the beach where she was born, somethings 3 nests a season. The fathers are absent 

[EdwardNygma1]

This is really cool of you guys to do. I abosuletely love turtles, and I would LOVE to see them hatch. Is it a bad thing to pick a baby up and stroke it gently, or carry it to the water? And do mothers ever come back for their babies? What about fathers?

[Cirvantes123]

how do they all hatch at the same time?

[dawmlw]

They naturally go towards the light - say the moon light on the water. However, due to uncontrolled building on the coastline, the turtles would go to the lights from the condos/houses and end up on the roads being killed. Thus, Share the Beach, was started on the AL Coast in the early 2000's. I am a volunteer with that group - we all are wearing green shirts. When they hatch, we had a trench dug and our job is just to see that they make it to the water.

[AJHM1991]

can any please tell me how do sea turles know which way to go after hatching?

[ilovegymnastics226]

they are so adorable! i love gulf shores, i hope i get to see some baby tutrtles when i go there this summer!

[blindtoo]

Incredible that all those people "stood guard" to make sure they made it out (or in) alive! Awesome!

[JAC50147]

ha thats right by my house

[ragtopman242]

We're whispering because?

[dawmlw]

Noises and vibrations are "felt" by the turtles in the sand prior to hatching. They fear predators - like dogs, fox, etc. In our training we are taught to be as quiet as possible.

[rommell83]

ipK4santas, my reply to you is that we put them in the position they are in so it is our responsibilty to help them.

[dawmlw]

Thanks rommell83, Humans created this, just as the shrimping industry did until the installation of TED's which still does not keep all turtles alive that enter their nets.

[ipk4santas]

I think you need to leave nature to itself. By protecting one speicies over another you create an unbalanced nature.

[xxxHERPERxxx]

I think of it this way, since they are in bad enough trouble, I think it was helpful that not a single predator got a turtle on that beach. Just about 25 to 50% of them die on land

[mrjon75]

thanks! i love turtles! and these guys are sooo cute!

[1123longwood]

I want to thank to the person whoever he/she may be for captioning the video. It's rare for me to see a captioned video, so I applaud that effort. I'm Deaf, and depend on captioning.

And, the video's just great -- the mysteries of life.

[dawmlw]

You are certainly welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[tazag]

great video! i love watching them getting wet for the first time!

(also, not sure if you can change it, but it's "predator" not "preditor".)

[dawmlw]

Thank you! I corrected it. I'm glad you liked the video.

[alethial]

Absolutely incredible!!! I love Gulf Shores and this makes me love it even more!

[drb1126]

Gosh, what a wonderful thing to be able to help these little guys and gals on their life journey! Thanks for the amazing video!

[dawmlw]

You are certainly welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[beachy1328]

Great Job with helping and documenting.

We experienced a hatching in Perdido Key last night, my video not as plan since we were using red lights. Thanks Bunches. jimmie sue walters

[dawmlw]

Thanks Jimmie Sue! You might try infrared lights.

[deweylovescookies]

CUTE! :D

[TayeBayBay]

this is so sweet and so beautiful. you are great people for helping these turtles! turtles have always been my favorite animals, i have always adored the cuties!

YOU ROCK! :D

[dawmlw]

Thanks!

[martic51]

Beautiful--thanks for sharing.

[dawmlw]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[leahsage]

Proud I never ate any turtle soup!

[rhonks1]

Millions of years the same routine, and we get to witness it!!! Thank you!!!!!

[crzygurl1995]

I think this is absolutly amazing. I luv animals and would love to get into something like this as a job later in life. This is just ... amazing is all I can say.

[fredgirl13]

This is amazing. I don't always take the time to watch lengthy videos that are forwarded to me, but this is absolutely awesome. I'm glad I took the time, and thank you for taking the time to help them and share with us!

[XxRayinxX]

To all those caring people to help the turtles find their way to the ocean, God bless you. That was awesome!

[anhtra1]

This was amazing to watch. Had just seen some turtle nests for the first time down in Fort Lauderdale the beginning of August. It was interesting reading about them.

[beaudaisy]

Isn't God amazing???

[RJPinMN]

Beautiful! Thanks for posting this I feel fortunate to see it! Side note: "daddt999" has too much time on his hands. Maybe he should use those hands to help others.

[BfFlPrOdUcTiOnSxoxo]

Oh my gosh! They are so cute! If only we'd gone this week instead.

[daddt999]

The Trees and leaves and Sky

now Gray the blue has gone

Birds busy being Birds

Fly until another dawn.

I see this through the blades of Grass

below from where I lay,

the tree's and leaves and Sky

I hope will be there for another day.

signed:

David ( hint ) Motorcycle

[daddt999]

I commend you and hold you in the highest regard. On behalf of all the little Turtles I thank you and wish you the best of luck in future years of Turtle populating. May there be as many Turtles in the seas as there are Stars in the sky.

[daddt999]

When will we stop destroying and raping the seas to feed our selves and our young ones, where can it end? Where will it end? We must intervene and return the numbers to the original levels that once swam the seas, it is our duty as care takers of this planet to be responsible for our wrong doing, and to bring forth the best of our ability to correct it in the only way we know how, and you all are very good examples of this Effort.

[daddt999]

OH MY GOD

I'm really sorry,,,I retract everything I wrote, Can you ever find it in you to forgive me? You not Stupid

your not Retarded.

your caring and compassionate, let me further say in the next post.

[daddt999]

Stupid people ! Why do they think they know best ? Maybe there's a reason only so many make it and survive, Did it ever occurs to them they could be upsetting the balance in the marine Environment by making so many make it., unreal ! How many thousands of years have they survived all by them selves. Why don't they carry them to the beach, and then set up nets in the water so no Sharks get um as well ...bunch of retards

[BHBandARB]

Maybe you should do a little research before you speak about something you obviously know nothing about.....sea turtles are on the endangered list as humans have upset the balance of the marine environment.....ignorance is no excuse for speaking out of turn.....

[stirvin1798]

Amazing! Thanks you for sharing!

[TamzinQ]

woah

SWEET.

[valambiguous]

O' my goodness!!!....the miracle of birth in the animal kingdom.....so beautiful....how wonderful it must've been to be there live...to see this!!!!...Too many darling little critters to count...i betcha'

[dawmlw]

We actually have counters during the hatching so that data submitted to the biologists is as correct as possible. When we have to move a nest we count the eggs and when hatched, we count again. If I don't have the nests mixed up, this one had 111 eggs, 110 hatched and made their way to the water. It was awesome.

[Layla0416]

This was so much fun to watch - I can't wait to share it with my friends

[sherrylynn70]

Thank you so much for your time sharing this beautiFul experience with us..I live just a few miles from you and have never experienced this before, so needless to say, this is a treasure..Thank you ~PsychedelicPsuzie~ so much for sending this my way..

[cjthemusicman]

...and thank you for sharing it with us, Sherry! Very, very humbling - seeing all those caring and considerate folks making sure all the little critters made it to the Gulf! Over 100 babies - puts the Octo-Mom to shame, doesn't it! :)

[nicksmiley]

Nice to see these little guys making it to the water, not much to you can do after that, huh?!

Thank goodness there are still some beaches that remain close to their natural state so this can occur. Laguna Key is adjacent to the Bon Secour National Wildlife Preserve, where there are no condos and few lights.

[jsalvago1]

very heart warming

[popokigirl]

Baby Honu (Hawaiian for Turtle),sooo cute! Mostly Hawkbill turtles in Hawaii and they are endangered .

[sharkduck5]

I want to go see this. Is it to late this year for anymore hatches?

August 21, 2001

Gregory "Little Shark" Johnson

[beckabarecka]

Yeah Gulf Shores. Fabulous video...