the waves seem to be getting bigger and more powerful. unfortunately we have lost several nests. at high tide the beach is completely covered in swirling, rushing water, and it pools in low lying areas. I went out at 7 pm before our survey tonight and there were turtle eggs (loggerhead and leatherback eggs) rolling around all over the beach. the crows were having a feast. once the eggs have been removed from the protective environment of the nest chamber, they die almost immediately so to rebury exposed eggs is futile. these are natural processes on a dynamic beach such as this one. just a pity that these nests we have been following will have no survivors. but the season is only about half over, so we will have some hatch later on in the season.
it was really cold tonight out there. we spotted a new turtle on Singer Island and named her Gemma. she was a great nester, very efficient. that was about 2 am. we were just finishing our section of the beach and getting ready to go in when Niki called to tell us she had a leatherback up on the beach. it turned out to be Pluto, a turtle we tagged a full month ago. where has she been? she probably has laid 2 nests since we saw her last. beautiful turtle, with amazing white spots all over the carapace and head.
must get to bed, starting to hallucinate....
