Tales from Zone 5 -2002

Generally this diary will be updated weekly during turtle season. However, other momentous events may also occasionally be recorded.

Week Description

May 5, 2002 The first Zone 5 nest is laid - Nest #5!!!

Week #1
June 21st -June 28th, 2002
6/27 - Day #50 for Nest #5. Hatching Patrol will begin.
6/28 - Katie starts patrolling this week. No hatches thus far.

June 2002

Week #2
June 29th -July 5th, 2002
7/1 - Day #50 for Nest #16 and Nest #17.
7/5 - Day #50 for Nest #28.

7/5 - Katie and Lynn patrolled the first part of this week, with Kelly, Lynn, and Peg finishing it up. No nests hatched this week. However, three new nests were laid, ( #121, #122, and #131) bring the Zone 5 total to 26!

Week #3
July 6th -12th, 2002

7/6 - Day #50 for Nest #31.

7/8 - Day #50 for Nest #32.
7/12 - Kelly and Gregg patrolled this week. Still no Zone 5 babies! But the first Kiawah nest hatched on 7/10, so we shouldn't be far behind. One additional nest was laid, and one possible nest.

Week #4
July 13th -19th, 2002
7/14 - Day #50 for Nest #36.
7/15 - Day #50 for Nest #38.

7/17 - Day #50 for Nest #43.

7/19 - Amy and Lynn were on patrol this week, with Sandy jumping in on 7/18 & 7/19.

Week #5
July 20th - July 26th, 2002
7/20 - Day #50 for Nest #46. Nest # 5 hatched today! Yea!
7/21 - Nest #31 hatched last night! Nest #5 was evaluated, and the team counted 65 hatched eggs.

7/22 - Nest #16 has hatched! Several dozen tracks were observed coming from the nest.

7/23 - Nest #32 has hatched! There was a large depression indicating the hatch. The team found 19 live turtles wandering in the grass and the dunes. Some had even fallen into crab holes! All 19 were captured and released on the beach.

7/24 - Nest #17 hatched last night.

7/25 - Day #50 for Nest #63. Three nests were ready for evaluation this morning. Nest #16, Nest #31, and Nest #32. Nest #16 had 103 hatched eggs and 26 live babies! Nest #31 had 90 hatched eggs and 22 live hatchlings. Several people were fortunate enough to witness these evaluations, and many pictures were taken. I hope that those folks will be kind enough to share their pictures with me. If so, look for new baby turtle pictures! Nest #32 had 82 hatched eggs, and of course, the 19 little wanderers.
You may note that Nest #16 and #31 both had a large amount of live hatchlings. Normally we would be required to cover the nest back up if more than 6 live babies were found. However, these little guys were underneath large stacks of eggs, so they obviously were the remnants of the nest. They were all happy and healthy, waving their little flippers like mad!
Nest #43 may have hatched last night. There was a depression, but with all the wind & rain no tracks were seen. We are keeping an eye on this one.
7/26 - Nest #38 hatched last night.
7/26 - Sandy and Carol (7/22 – 7/25) patrolled this week. Gregg subbed for Carol on 7/20, 7/21. Kelly subbed on 7/26.

Week #6
July 27th - August 2nd, 2002
7/27 - Day #50 for Nest #65 and Nest #66. Nest #17 was evaluated this morning. It had 115 hatched eggs and 1 live hatchling.
7/29 - Nest #38 was evaluated. This was a VERY small nest - only 15 hatched eggs.

7/31 - Day #50 for Nest #73 and Nest #74. Nest #SS-20 was evaluated this morning and had 132 hatched eggs! A slightly bigger nest than average (120 is the average). Nests #43 and #46 hatched last night!
8/1 - Nest #63 hatched. The patrol saw LOTS of tracks!
8/2 - More tracks from Nest #46...
8/2 - Christine and Art patrolled this week, with Kelly subbing on 7/27.

July, 2002 During the month of July, Zone 5 had 622 hatched eggs and we saw 84 live hatchlings!

Week #7
August 3rd - 9th, 2002
8/3 - More tracks from Nest #63... Nest #43 was evaluated this morning and had 76 hatched eggs. Nest #46 was also evaluated, and had 101 hatched eggs! Woo hoo!
8/4 - More tracks from Nest #47... Evaluated Nest #63 and found 81 hatched eggs.

8/6 - Nest #47 was evaluated. This was a really great nest, large and deep. There were 114 hatched eggs and 17 live baby turtles. The hatchlings were all very healthy and active, and rarin' to head to the ocean.

8/9 - Day #50 for Nest #88 and Nest #89.

8/9 - Sandy, Stewart, and Sylvia patrolled this week. Marilyn helped out on 8/7 & 8/8.

Week #8
August 10th - 16th, 2002
8/10 - Day #50 for Nest #93.
8/12 - Nest #65 hatched, and in a BIG way! During the morning patrol, Amy & Art found a hatchling in a crab's claws outside the nest. They rescued it & helped it to the water. Then they watched nest for about an hour, as sand was "moving", but saw no baby turtles. During the evening of 8/12, around 7:00 PM. Sandy Williams (also of Zone 5 patrol) was riding on the beach & stopped to investigate why a group of people were around a turtle nest. She noticed lots of babies trying to make it to the water. Evidently the people walking noticed birds swarming near the dunes & discovered the reason was the turtles emerging. They shooed the birds away (although apparently the birds had already gotten several turtles) & were helping to protect the turtles on their journey to the water. Fortunately, the folks had encountered turtle patrol members before and knew what to do. The poor babies were also confused because they wanted to walk west down the beach toward the setting sun. They got them safely in the right direction. There were at least 30 turtles that made it to the water.

8/13 - More tracks from Nest #65... Nest #66 hatched!!

8/14 - More tracks from Nest #66.

8/15 - Nest #74 hatched! There were lots of tracks. This nest is part of the Duke study, and so was reported to the head of turtle patrol. Nest #93 hatched as well.

8/16 - Day #50 for Nest #104. More tracks from Nests #74 and #93. Nest #89 hatched! This nest looked like a perfect "eruption" of baby turtles. There was a beautiful swath of little tiny baby turtle tracks headed towards the ocean. If the tracks were any indication, all of those babies knew exactly where to go! No stragglers went off in a different direction. Evaluated Nest #65 and found 98 hatched eggs and 4 little babies who were escorted down the beach. We met several very nice folks on patrol this morning who helped us form a "No sea gulls squad" to protect the babies while they crawled into the water. Next it was on to the evaluation of Nest #66. This was another really good nest, and had 98 hatched eggs. But this time there were 14 little babies waving their flippers at us from the bottom of the nest! Joan, a fellow turtle patroller from another zone, came and helped us out with this nest evaluation. Our "squad" stuck with us for this nest too, and with so many little ones, we certainly needed the help!
I think we have found a "Junior Turtler"! His name is Nathan, and he is 4 years old. Nathan took many pictures of his baby turtles, and had his picture taken while he babysat them on their way into the ocean. I have to say that this is one of my favorite reasons for participating in turtle patrol! Having the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, and seeing the look in their eyes the first time they see a little loggerhead. There is nothing quite like it. But when the look is on the face of a child, to borrow a phrase, "It just doesn't get any better than this!"
8/16 - Amy & Art patrolled this week, with Kelly subbing on 8/16.

Week #9
August 17th - 23rd, 2002
8/17 - Saw 2 or 3 turtle tracks leading from large depression on Nest #89. Several more tracks were seen from Nest #93. Unfortunately there was 1 dead hatchling in the entrance to a crab hole on the east side of the depression; several sets of tracks leaving the nest.
8/18 - Saw 2 more tracks from Nest #89, as well as a large crab hole directly over the nest. The nest was evaluated today as numerous tracks were noted at first eruption. There were 166 hatched eggs, 7 unhatched eggs, and 5 hatchlings! 2 or 3 more tracks were seen from Nest #93 and today it was evaluated. There were 118 hatched eggs and 6 unhatched eggs. No new tracks were seen at Nest #74. This nest was one of the ones used for the Duke University study. The "Hatchling Catcher" had been removed earlier in August. Unfortunately this nest evaluation was depressing: 15 unhatched eggs; 80 hatched eggs; 16 dead hatchlings.

8/19 - Nest #104 has a HUGE eruption with lots of hatchling tracks! There were also signs of a raccoon and a crab hole at the nest. This nest had been screened due to its proximity to Nest 73 that had been predated by raccoon shortly after being laid in June. Nesting patrol elected to screen both these nests at that time.   The raccoon had definitely searched sand at eruption area but screen appeared to prevent it from getting down into nest.

8/20 - One or two tracks noted at Nest #121. An eruption with lots of tracks from Nest #88.

8/21 - Day #50 for Nest #121.

8/22 - Day #50 for Nest #122. It rained before dawn so it was hard to see any new tracks. Did evaluation of Nest #104 and found 101 hatched eggs and 3 unhatched eggs.
8/23 - Evaluated Nest #88. It was a very deep nest, with 97 hatched eggs and 1 unhatched. Also evaluated Nest #121. The evaluation showed very successful nest! There were 130 hatched eggs, 14 unhatched eggs, and 5 live hatchlings!

8/23 - Lynn, Paul, and Bryan patrolled this week.

Week #10
August 24th - 30th, 2002
8/25 - Day #50 for Nest #131.
8/26 - Evaluated Nest #73, as this nest has reached the 75 day mark. Only found three hatched eggs, with no other evidence of hatchlings or eggs. Extremely odd nest!

8/28 - Day #50 for Nest #142.
8/30 - Marilyn, Stewart, and Sylvia patrolled this week. Mary Ann helped as well. There were very heavy rains this week, making it difficult to see any tracks.

Week #11
August 31st -September 6th, 2002
8/31 - Nest # 122 and Nest #131 hatched! We could not see any tracks due to all of the rain, but the depressions were clearly there.
9/1 - Nest #142 hatched! Again, no tracks seen due to the rain, but there was a nicely formed depression.

9/2 - Evaluated Nest #131. We found 80 hatched eggs and 1 unhatched. No babies though... Also evaluated Nest #122. This was a HUGE nest, with 155 hatched eggs! (Remember, the average is 120 eggs.) And there were 6 little loggerheads waving hello from the bottom of the nest! As we got nearer and nearer the bottom of the nest, the sand became wetter and wetter. It was almost "soupy" at the bottom. Yuck.

9/3 - Evaluated Nest #142.   There were 93 hatched eggs and...<drum roll please>...29 live hatchlings! This nest was also very wet at the bottom, almost as bad as Nest #122.

9/6 - Kelly and Gregg patrolled this week.

August, 2002 During the month of August, Zone 5 had 1251 hatched eggs and we saw 47 live hatchlings! That brings Zone 5's "season totals" to 1873 hatched eggs and 131 live hatchlings!

Week #12
September 7th - 13th, 2002
9/10 - Day #50 for Nest #174.
No "action" this week. Pulled up lots of stakes for the "possible" nests (where there was a crawl, but the nesting patrol did not locate any eggs). These are the nests marked with "SS-##" on their stakes. Broke through the sand "crusts" that were on the remaining three nests.

9/13 - Lynn and Katie patrolled this week.

Week #13
September 14th - 20th, 2002
9/14 - Day #50 for Nest #178 and Nest #179.
9/20 - Evaluated Nest #174. We found 100 hatched eggs and 8 unhatched. No baby turtles waving hello this time though - which is good for the turtles!

9/20 - Marilyn and Jane patrolled this week.

Week #14
September 21st - 27th, 2002
9/27 - Nest #178 hatched last night.
9/27 - Katie and Paul patrolled this week.

Week #15
September 28th - October 4th, 2002
9/29 - Nest #179 hatched last night. There were TONS of tracks! It looked like dozens and dozens of hatchlings swarmed to the sea. I sure wish I could have witnessed it.
9/30 - Evaluated Nest #178. There were only 68 hatched eggs and 4 unhatched.

10/2 - Evaluated Nest #179. There were 48 hatched eggs and 39 unhatched. This is a large number of unhatched eggs - very unusual. Perhaps the lateness of the nest affected the outcome?

10/4 - Kelly and Gregg patrolled this week.

Zone 5 Totals: Zone 5 had 2417 hatched eggs this summer. Our volunteers saw 167 live hatchlings! Let us all hope that they survive and return to see Kiawah again someday!

Week	Description
May 5, 2002	The first Zone 5 nest is laid - Nest #5!!!
Week #1 June 21st -June 28th, 2002	6/27 - Day #50 for Nest #5. Hatching Patrol will begin. 6/28 - Katie starts patrolling this week. No hatches thus far.
June 2002
Week #2 June 29th -July 5th, 2002	7/1 - Day #50 for Nest #16 and Nest #17. 7/5 - Day #50 for Nest #28. 7/5 - Katie and Lynn patrolled the first part of this week, with Kelly, Lynn, and Peg finishing it up. No nests hatched this week. However, three new nests were laid, ( #121, #122, and #131) bring the Zone 5 total to 26!
Week #3 July 6th -12th, 2002	7/6 - Day #50 for Nest #31. 7/8 - Day #50 for Nest #32. 7/12 - Kelly and Gregg patrolled this week. Still no Zone 5 babies! But the first Kiawah nest hatched on 7/10, so we shouldn't be far behind. One additional nest was laid, and one possible nest.
Week #4 July 13th -19th, 2002	7/14 - Day #50 for Nest #36. 7/15 - Day #50 for Nest #38. 7/17 - Day #50 for Nest #43. 7/19 - Amy and Lynn were on patrol this week, with Sandy jumping in on 7/18 & 7/19.
Week #5 July 20th - July 26th, 2002	7/20 - Day #50 for Nest #46. Nest # 5 hatched today! Yea! 7/21 - Nest #31 hatched last night! Nest #5 was evaluated, and the team counted 65 hatched eggs. 7/22 - Nest #16 has hatched! Several dozen tracks were observed coming from the nest. 7/23 - Nest #32 has hatched! There was a large depression indicating the hatch. The team found 19 live turtles wandering in the grass and the dunes. Some had even fallen into crab holes! All 19 were captured and released on the beach. 7/24 - Nest #17 hatched last night. 7/25 - Day #50 for Nest #63. Three nests were ready for evaluation this morning. Nest #16, Nest #31, and Nest #32. Nest #16 had 103 hatched eggs and 26 live babies! Nest #31 had 90 hatched eggs and 22 live hatchlings. Several people were fortunate enough to witness these evaluations, and many pictures were taken. I hope that those folks will be kind enough to share their pictures with me. If so, look for new baby turtle pictures! Nest #32 had 82 hatched eggs, and of course, the 19 little wanderers. You may note that Nest #16 and #31 both had a large amount of live hatchlings. Normally we would be required to cover the nest back up if more than 6 live babies were found. However, these little guys were underneath large stacks of eggs, so they obviously were the remnants of the nest. They were all happy and healthy, waving their little flippers like mad! Nest #43 may have hatched last night. There was a depression, but with all the wind & rain no tracks were seen. We are keeping an eye on this one. 7/26 - Nest #38 hatched last night. 7/26 - Sandy and Carol (7/22 – 7/25) patrolled this week. Gregg subbed for Carol on 7/20, 7/21. Kelly subbed on 7/26.
Week #6 July 27th - August 2nd, 2002	7/27 - Day #50 for Nest #65 and Nest #66. Nest #17 was evaluated this morning. It had 115 hatched eggs and 1 live hatchling. 7/29 - Nest #38 was evaluated. This was a VERY small nest - only 15 hatched eggs. 7/31 - Day #50 for Nest #73 and Nest #74. Nest #SS-20 was evaluated this morning and had 132 hatched eggs! A slightly bigger nest than average (120 is the average). Nests #43 and #46 hatched last night! 8/1 - Nest #63 hatched. The patrol saw LOTS of tracks! 8/2 - More tracks from Nest #46... 8/2 - Christine and Art patrolled this week, with Kelly subbing on 7/27.
July, 2002	During the month of July, Zone 5 had 622 hatched eggs and we saw 84 live hatchlings!
Week #7 August 3rd - 9th, 2002	8/3 - More tracks from Nest #63... Nest #43 was evaluated this morning and had 76 hatched eggs. Nest #46 was also evaluated, and had 101 hatched eggs! Woo hoo! 8/4 - More tracks from Nest #47... Evaluated Nest #63 and found 81 hatched eggs. 8/6 - Nest #47 was evaluated. This was a really great nest, large and deep. There were 114 hatched eggs and 17 live baby turtles. The hatchlings were all very healthy and active, and rarin' to head to the ocean. 8/9 - Day #50 for Nest #88 and Nest #89. 8/9 - Sandy, Stewart, and Sylvia patrolled this week. Marilyn helped out on 8/7 & 8/8.
Week #8 August 10th - 16th, 2002	8/10 - Day #50 for Nest #93. 8/12 - Nest #65 hatched, and in a BIG way! During the morning patrol, Amy & Art found a hatchling in a crab's claws outside the nest. They rescued it & helped it to the water. Then they watched nest for about an hour, as sand was "moving", but saw no baby turtles. During the evening of 8/12, around 7:00 PM. Sandy Williams (also of Zone 5 patrol) was riding on the beach & stopped to investigate why a group of people were around a turtle nest. She noticed lots of babies trying to make it to the water. Evidently the people walking noticed birds swarming near the dunes & discovered the reason was the turtles emerging. They shooed the birds away (although apparently the birds had already gotten several turtles) & were helping to protect the turtles on their journey to the water. Fortunately, the folks had encountered turtle patrol members before and knew what to do. The poor babies were also confused because they wanted to walk west down the beach toward the setting sun. They got them safely in the right direction. There were at least 30 turtles that made it to the water. 8/13 - More tracks from Nest #65... Nest #66 hatched!! 8/14 - More tracks from Nest #66. 8/15 - Nest #74 hatched! There were lots of tracks. This nest is part of the Duke study, and so was reported to the head of turtle patrol. Nest #93 hatched as well. 8/16 - Day #50 for Nest #104. More tracks from Nests #74 and #93. Nest #89 hatched! This nest looked like a perfect "eruption" of baby turtles. There was a beautiful swath of little tiny baby turtle tracks headed towards the ocean. If the tracks were any indication, all of those babies knew exactly where to go! No stragglers went off in a different direction. Evaluated Nest #65 and found 98 hatched eggs and 4 little babies who were escorted down the beach. We met several very nice folks on patrol this morning who helped us form a "No sea gulls squad" to protect the babies while they crawled into the water. Next it was on to the evaluation of Nest #66. This was another really good nest, and had 98 hatched eggs. But this time there were 14 little babies waving their flippers at us from the bottom of the nest! Joan, a fellow turtle patroller from another zone, came and helped us out with this nest evaluation. Our "squad" stuck with us for this nest too, and with so many little ones, we certainly needed the help! I think we have found a "Junior Turtler"! His name is Nathan, and he is 4 years old. Nathan took many pictures of his baby turtles, and had his picture taken while he babysat them on their way into the ocean. I have to say that this is one of my favorite reasons for participating in turtle patrol! Having the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, and seeing the look in their eyes the first time they see a little loggerhead. There is nothing quite like it. But when the look is on the face of a child, to borrow a phrase, "It just doesn't get any better than this!" 8/16 - Amy & Art patrolled this week, with Kelly subbing on 8/16.
Week #9 August 17th - 23rd, 2002	8/17 - Saw 2 or 3 turtle tracks leading from large depression on Nest #89. Several more tracks were seen from Nest #93. Unfortunately there was 1 dead hatchling in the entrance to a crab hole on the east side of the depression; several sets of tracks leaving the nest. 8/18 - Saw 2 more tracks from Nest #89, as well as a large crab hole directly over the nest. The nest was evaluated today as numerous tracks were noted at first eruption. There were 166 hatched eggs, 7 unhatched eggs, and 5 hatchlings! 2 or 3 more tracks were seen from Nest #93 and today it was evaluated. There were 118 hatched eggs and 6 unhatched eggs. No new tracks were seen at Nest #74. This nest was one of the ones used for the Duke University study. The "Hatchling Catcher" had been removed earlier in August. Unfortunately this nest evaluation was depressing: 15 unhatched eggs; 80 hatched eggs; 16 dead hatchlings. 8/19 - Nest #104 has a HUGE eruption with lots of hatchling tracks! There were also signs of a raccoon and a crab hole at the nest. This nest had been screened due to its proximity to Nest 73 that had been predated by raccoon shortly after being laid in June. Nesting patrol elected to screen both these nests at that time. The raccoon had definitely searched sand at eruption area but screen appeared to prevent it from getting down into nest. 8/20 - One or two tracks noted at Nest #121. An eruption with lots of tracks from Nest #88. 8/21 - Day #50 for Nest #121. 8/22 - Day #50 for Nest #122. It rained before dawn so it was hard to see any new tracks. Did evaluation of Nest #104 and found 101 hatched eggs and 3 unhatched eggs. 8/23 - Evaluated Nest #88. It was a very deep nest, with 97 hatched eggs and 1 unhatched. Also evaluated Nest #121. The evaluation showed very successful nest! There were 130 hatched eggs, 14 unhatched eggs, and 5 live hatchlings! 8/23 - Lynn, Paul, and Bryan patrolled this week.
Week #10 August 24th - 30th, 2002	8/25 - Day #50 for Nest #131. 8/26 - Evaluated Nest #73, as this nest has reached the 75 day mark. Only found three hatched eggs, with no other evidence of hatchlings or eggs. Extremely odd nest! 8/28 - Day #50 for Nest #142. 8/30 - Marilyn, Stewart, and Sylvia patrolled this week. Mary Ann helped as well. There were very heavy rains this week, making it difficult to see any tracks.
Week #11 August 31st -September 6th, 2002	8/31 - Nest # 122 and Nest #131 hatched! We could not see any tracks due to all of the rain, but the depressions were clearly there. 9/1 - Nest #142 hatched! Again, no tracks seen due to the rain, but there was a nicely formed depression. 9/2 - Evaluated Nest #131. We found 80 hatched eggs and 1 unhatched. No babies though... Also evaluated Nest #122. This was a HUGE nest, with 155 hatched eggs! (Remember, the average is 120 eggs.) And there were 6 little loggerheads waving hello from the bottom of the nest! As we got nearer and nearer the bottom of the nest, the sand became wetter and wetter. It was almost "soupy" at the bottom. Yuck. 9/3 - Evaluated Nest #142. There were 93 hatched eggs and...<drum roll please>...29 live hatchlings! This nest was also very wet at the bottom, almost as bad as Nest #122. 9/6 - Kelly and Gregg patrolled this week.
August, 2002	During the month of August, Zone 5 had 1251 hatched eggs and we saw 47 live hatchlings! That brings Zone 5's "season totals" to 1873 hatched eggs and 131 live hatchlings!
Week #12 September 7th - 13th, 2002	9/10 - Day #50 for Nest #174. No "action" this week. Pulled up lots of stakes for the "possible" nests (where there was a crawl, but the nesting patrol did not locate any eggs). These are the nests marked with "SS-##" on their stakes. Broke through the sand "crusts" that were on the remaining three nests. 9/13 - Lynn and Katie patrolled this week.
Week #13 September 14th - 20th, 2002	9/14 - Day #50 for Nest #178 and Nest #179. 9/20 - Evaluated Nest #174. We found 100 hatched eggs and 8 unhatched. No baby turtles waving hello this time though - which is good for the turtles! 9/20 - Marilyn and Jane patrolled this week.
Week #14 September 21st - 27th, 2002	9/27 - Nest #178 hatched last night. 9/27 - Katie and Paul patrolled this week.
Week #15 September 28th - October 4th, 2002	9/29 - Nest #179 hatched last night. There were TONS of tracks! It looked like dozens and dozens of hatchlings swarmed to the sea. I sure wish I could have witnessed it. 9/30 - Evaluated Nest #178. There were only 68 hatched eggs and 4 unhatched. 10/2 - Evaluated Nest #179. There were 48 hatched eggs and 39 unhatched. This is a large number of unhatched eggs - very unusual. Perhaps the lateness of the nest affected the outcome? 10/4 - Kelly and Gregg patrolled this week.
Zone 5 Totals:	Zone 5 had 2417 hatched eggs this summer. Our volunteers saw 167 live hatchlings! Let us all hope that they survive and return to see Kiawah again someday!