A Turtle Nest: Beginning to End (by Mary Duffy) It all starts with a trip to the beach by a female...

A Turtle Nest: Beginning to End(by Mary Duffy)

It all starts with a trip to the beach by a female turtle.

The only time a female turtle come ashore is to lay her eggs

Turtle tracks lead volunteers to the nest site

Volunteers dig to verify the presence of eggs Photo by Jennifer Kravassi

The nest is marked and monitored for signs of a hatchling emergence

Eggs will incubate for 50 – 60 days

Hopefully, all the hatchlings will crawl to the water

Artificial beachfront lighting can disorient hatchlings, causing them to crawl all over the beach or landward into vegetation or local roadways

Three days after the nest emerges, volunteers will excavate the nest and take an inventory of the contents

Photo by Sandra Baker-Hinton

Sometimes a turtle stops development in the egg

Sometimes hatchlings are trapped in the nest and need to be rescued

Photo by Jennifer Kravassi

Live hatchlings that are trapped in the nest are collected and released to the water



The public is invited to our excavations

Everyone gets excited when there are live hatchlings!




Finally, the hatchling is released and makes its way to the surf



We say good-bye and GOOD LUCK!

A Turtle Nest: Beginning to End (by Mary Duffy) It all starts with a trip to the beach by a female...

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