Our volunteers have stayed busy the last week with nests hatching every few days, around incubation day 55. Many hatchlings have been disoriented requiring they be recovered and released on a darker part of our beach. After a nest hatches, an excavation is scheduled to assess the nest contents with the excavation and results being announced on Facebook.
This week we will reach the day 80 mark for several nests that were impacted by Tropical Storm Alberto. Three of these nests suffered a good deal of wash over due to high surf and 2-3 foot of additional sand being placed on the nest. Others had washout or washover that likely stopped the development of the eggs. Volunteers will schedule private excavations of these nests to try to locate the eggs to at least determine how many had been laid. These nests are numbered in the teens, so we hope that those females returned weeks later here in the Panhandle to lay some other nests that are having better hatch success.
We appreciate all of the hours our volunteers are spending now on hatching monitoring, recovery and excavations!
