24-July-2013 Nest #7 found in Southern Shores (and three false crawls)

Well… Dan is the ATV rider to beat.  This morning he came across not just one crawl, but four!  The first one was clearly a false crawl with the mom stopping at a 1 foot escarpment and turning back to sea.  The second crawl

looked possible, she had made her way all the way up the side of the dune!  The team was not certain if the thrown sand was from nesting activity or simply from sliding up the dune side.  It did appear as though she made a couple attempts but after digging the site, we confirmed it to be a false crawl.  While the team investigated this second site, a call came in from the public from someone watching a turtle still on the beach.  He made sure everyone kept a good

distance but the mom still decided she just didn’t like that spot.  She actually did what we sometimes call a “false nest” where she even began to dig, but then left without even covering up the site.  So while responders dug on crawl #2 and others confirmed the false nest for crawl #3, Dan continued on his ride to find a loggerhead just sitting like a rock on the beach!  This was it,

we finally found a turtle that had not only actually decided to lay eggs, but decided to share the moment with us! The team watched her as she transitioned from laying eggs to covering them up.  She then turned north and headed back with a very pleased crowd watching from a respectful distance.  Based on the timing, we are pretty certain we had at least two turtles this morning.  Hopefully the other one will return with success tonight!