A couple more

Last night was a busy one! There were eight nests along our survey area and were able to observe six of the eight turtles as they nested. Many of the turtles were found on the south end of the survey area in MacArthur Beach State Park.
One of the oddest things we have found in a while was found on one of our turtles last night. Katharine discovered some fishing gear on a nesting leatherback at about 4am. We sometimes find commercial longline gear on our girsl, but this was recreational fishing tackle. The turtle had a Pompano fishing rig, with a hook through one of her rear flippers. These types of rigs usually have two or more hooks and this one had two hooks. The second hook had caught one of the turtles "companion remoras" and was dragged up the beach behind the turtle. The story didn't end well for the fish, but we did remove the hook from her flipper and she returned to the water.
Tonight should be another busy night. Check back in later!