By: Sea Turtle Nesting Manager Mike Anderson
The 2009 sea turtle nesting season has come and gone, but don’t worry, 2010 is just around the corner. With138 Loggerhead nests which contained 13,789 eggs, it was a great season. From these, 10,071 hatchlings emerged. This beat our 2008 total of 108 nests, which contained 10,525 eggs and produced just under 7,400 hatchlings. Hopefully we will continue to see increasing numbers in the future.
A lot of hours go into nesting season, from the early morning patrols to the late night nest sitting, and the even later phone calls at 2 am. Luckily I have a lot of great people to make my job easier. The morning patrols are done with Sea Turtle Nesting staff which includes myself, Joe Widlansky, and Karen Schanzle, with the help of our nesting interns. I had three great interns this summer Krystal, Carlie, and Nicole. They all worked really hard. I also get a lot of support from the rest of the staff at CMA that put up with me, even when a get a little cranky from lack of sleep.
Of course, the most important part of the nesting team is the group of wonderful volunteers that put in most of the hours on the beaches at night. From the nesting supervisors that make sure all the caged nests in their region get closed up before sunset, and monitored throughout the evening, to the nest sitters who patiently watch for hatchlings so the supervisors can get them to the water immediately, this program could not be successful without these volunteers. Thank you very much, and I look forward to seeing you all next summer.
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