More than 300 enthusiastic visitors and local residents witnessed a successful Loggerhead sea turtle nest inventory of Nest 5 at Litchfield by the Sea (LBTS), Friday, Sept. 4, by South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts (SCUTE) volunteers.
The Nest 5 inventory yield was 93 hatchlings from 110 egg shells, an 85 per cent success rate, according to SCUTE Volunteer Lynn Gueder, LOA, who gave Olivia Snow, age 3, of Waxhaw, NC, a close look at the nine live turtle hatchlings from the Nest 5 inventory. She is the daughter of Bobby and Elizabeth Snow. We've been watching turtles come out of this nest for three days, her mother said. I told Olivia this is a once-in-a-life experience. The last time I saw sea turtles was on Sanibel Island, FL when I was 18. I believe it is so important for everyone to see why we must protect and preserve the beaches. It was such an amazing experience to see the little ones swimming to their new home.
Geuder said this season for LBTS was exceptionally good. We were very fortunate to get five nests," Geuder said. "Training such an enthusiastic group of volunteers, along with SCUTE co-founder Jeff McClary, was a wonderful experience for me, as was the witnessing of most of the big hatchings. I've waited eight seasons to see a mass hatching and witnessed at least four. They all will be experiences and memories I will never forget. I can't wait until next season."
Sam Williamson of Shawnee, TN, said he and his wife had been vacationing at LBTS for 18 years. "This week was the first time weve ever seen turtles, Williamson said. This was a visual experience. Id even call it a spiritual experience.
Earlier videos include Camera Catches Nesting Sea Turtle at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AyeAvGtK-k and Relocating SC Loggerhead Turtle Nest at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptj0U8Y4whc&feature=channel SCUTE volunteer McLaren said it had been a most successful nest. There were three separate boils of hatchlings under the watchful eye of turtle nest babysitters and twice as many intrigued visitors, McLaren said. The opened nest revealed another nine healthy, vibrant little dinosaurs. All of them bravely made their way into the ocean and started their long journey to the Sargasso Sea about 300 miles off the coast.
This same Nest 5 also was privileged to have a visit from a bride and groom from NYC, who had just completed their wedding vows on the beach, telling us the 'turtle experience had been very exciting, McLaren said. This season, we had five nests at LBTS; we witnessed a mother lay her eggs and return to the ocean, and we watched every hatching. It has been a most satisfying season made possible by our dedicated walking volunteers who not only look for turtle tracks, but also pick up trash off the beach." McLaren said the volunteer group started the season with Geuder, Alicia Barnes, Vic Young, Mickey McDowell, Kay Mackall, Pat Milling, Sharyn Kovac and Katie Jayaran. During the weeks to follow, we added Carol Bell Tonya Huggins, Leslie Cribb, Kathy Stemmler and last week alone five new people signed up to join SCUTE sea turtle watchers at LBTS, said McLaren. We met many wonderful new friends who said the turtle experience had made their vacation, and many children who were completely in awe. We had a great trainer, photographer and beach cleaner-uppers, plus a fantastic set of turtle sitters.
McLaren will lead a local International Ocean Clean-Up Day, Saturday, Sept. 19, and is looking for volunteers to pitch in and clean the beach. She said much of the trash abandoned on the beach is detrimental to marine life, such as plastic bags, bottles with separate caps and children's toys. If we want our turtles to survive, we must also look after our beaches, she said
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Sea Turtle Inventory Release Nest 4 Litchfield by the Sea, SCby CoastalDigital975 views
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