Island Turtle Team

Nest	Date Found	Location	Number of Eggs	Hatch Date	Hatch Success
1	May 16	31st Avenue - Isle of Palms	135	July 11	92.6%
	It finally happened our first loggerhead nest for 2011. Although we don't usually get one until about the last week of May, other beaches in SC already had 63 nests before ours. This turtle laid her eggs at the line of the power poles that cross Dewees Inlet at the north end of the Isle of Palms. This is probably the farthest into the inlet on the Cedar Creek spit that we've ever had one. Because of the location where the current is dangerous to the emerging hatchlings, we relocated 135 eggs to just south of the 31A access path on the Isle of Palms. UPDATE: All but 9 of these eggs hatched and 7 live hatchlings were found in the nest at inventory. A good start with 92.6% Hatch Success.
2	May 23	31st Avenue - Isle of Palms	112	July 19	80.3%
	This morning was busy for the Turtle Team. Linda Forslund & Lori Nelson started their walk at 49th and found a small dead Kemps Ridley turtle that had died and washed ashore there, but then they also found loggerhead tracks right at the 31A Access Path at the other end of their walk. This is Nest #2 and was very close to the relocation site of Nest #1 exactly a week ago. Even though it was in the pedestrian path, it was high enough on the beach to be at a good elevation and it was well marked for protection. Barb Gobien found the eggs, and it was left in situ to incubate. Bill Schupp will use extra care to empty the trash barrel there with his machine.UPDATE: Inventory showed an 80% hatch success, but 23 hatchlings were stuck in the hard sand and had to be released. There was one egg that showed large and small conjoined twins who did not survive.
3	May 23	Station 16 - Sullivan's Island	114	July 17	88.5%
	Linda Rumph called from her patrol on Sullivan's. She had found tracks and a body pit just above the spring tide line near the Station 16 Path on Sullivan's. She had also cleaned lots of litter from the beach like a good Turtle Team member. This was her first nest to probe and she found the eggs there. We did not relocate this one either but will watch it for erosion as the season progresses. UPDATE: The nest was successful with no erosion problems. There were 9 live hatchlings there for the inventory and 12 eggs that failed to develop for an 88.5% hatch success.
4	May 27	32nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	101	July 19	88.2%
	This morning Bob Clarke found tracks at the 32nd Avenue Access Path and Sue Hogan came along shortly thereafter. Just like Nest #2 at 31A, this turtle was hanging out right by the trash barrel while nesting. She also circled around several times before going back to the ocean and fortunately missed falling into a hole which was between her incoming and outgoing paths. This one was just below the spring tide line which justified a relocation. After Mary Alice probed and found the clutch, 101 eggs were relocated to a perfect dune nearby just north of the same path. UPDATE: This was a really healthy relocated nest. It did much better than the one at 31st Avenue inventoried the same morning that was left in situ. No one left in the nest and 88.2% hatch success.
5	May 29th	35th Avenue - Isle of Palms	124	July 22	91.9%
	The section from 31st to 35th Avenue must be the favorite of our loggerheads this season. This morning Ann Evans and Terri Stafford were accompanied by Lori Nelson when they found tracks three doors north of the 35th Ave. access path. The turtle went all the way to the front of the primary dune, a perfect spot, to lay her eggs. Finding them was a little bit of a challenge since she probably turned around and faced the ocean to drop them. The nest was marked in situ to incubate, making four nests in that area. UPDATE: A good nest with 9 unhatched eggs, one dead hatchling, and 14 live ones released.
6	May 30	26th Avenue - Isle of Palms	113	July 22	91.2%
	A turtle had to climb over a palmetto log to nest at 26th Avenue. Jeff Walker and Kathy Magruder reported these tracks and we were surprised to see how persistent this loggerhead was in heaving herself over the log. She left flipper claw marks on the log as she crawled alongside it to go back to the ocean. This nest was laid right at the spring tide line but will probably be OK in this location since it will hatch late in July before the fall storms affect it, so it was not relocated. Kathy and her husband Jeff were leaving for a trip to Austria today, so this was a nice sendoff for them. INVENTORY UPDATE: We tried to inventory this nest 3 days after the first turtle came out but had to postpone the final assessment until 8 days later because some of them were still coming out of their eggs and not ready. We found close to 40 hatchlings trapped in very hard damp sand. They were mature and were released. So the hatch success was good at 91% but the emergence rate would not have been good without help from the Turtle Team.
7	June 1	32nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	130	July 26	89.3%
	The turtles' favorite section got yet another nest this morning. Brian Duffy & Catherine Malloy were the first to discover tracks near the 32nd Avenue path this morning and Carol Gaston came along shortly thereafter. This nest was below the spring tide line and so 130 eggs were relocated to about the same location only a little higher for safety. The turtle was seen nesting just before 11 pm last night with a heavy load of seaweed and tiny skeleton shrimp on her back. She laid two eggs that were oval instead of round. INVENTORY UPDATE: Thirteen eggs failed to develop and there were 19 live hatchlings left in the nest 4 days after the first emergence for a good 89% hatch success.
8	June 7	42nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	83	July 31	94%
	Gillian Ellis found tracks near the Beachwood East Access Path in Wild Dunes this morning. This loggerhead had a hard time nesting according to the field signs, but she finally laid her eggs even though the sand was very dry. We don't usually find such dry powdery sand as deep as the depth of the egg chamber. She crawled over the rather steep crest of the high tide line and laid her eggs on the downward slope behind it. We've lost nests in places such as this where water can stand if it makes it over the crest, so relocation was necessary. We looked for a suitable place at 56th Avenue, but could not find one, so the 83 eggs were relocated near the 42nd Avenue path which was the first really good place for a nest we could find. The egg chamber here was not dangerously dry, so it was a good choice. INVENTORY UPDATE: Only 4 eggs failed to develop and there were no hatchlings left in the nest at inventory - the best percentage yet at 94% hatch and emergence.
9	June 8	2nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	102	July 31	95.1%
	At last we have a nest at the south end. Now at least one nest has been laid in every one of the Turtle Team's Isle of Palms five beach sections. This morning Franny Russell was happy to come upon loggerhead tracks in Breach Inlet. We relocated 102 eggs to the 2nd Avenue Access Path. INVENTORY UPDATE: Another great nest with even better hatch success. Seven hatchlings released to to water, 95.1% hatched and 86.4% made it out on their own.
10	June 10	6th Avenue - Isle of Palms	85	August 4	55.8%
	Mary Beth Heeke found tracks about 5 houses south of the 30th Ave path this morning. This turtle came in not long after the tide was high at about 2:30 am, did not stay very long, and crawled behind the primary dune without leaving the clue that she threw sand around after laying eggs. The Turtle Team searched the area thoroughly for eggs, but the signs were not good and none were found. Meanwhile Caroline Stone and Donna Gadd found tracks at the 6A path. This time the tracks showed that the turtle was nesting just at dawn, stayed a long time according to the track lengths, and threw sand around - a sure sign that she did lay eggs. Barb found the clutch, but 85 eggs had to be relocated out of this busy access path to a better spot near the 6th Avenue path. It is very likely that this morning's tracks came from the same turtle by the measurements and the timing of her visits. It is also likely that this is the turtle who crawled in twice the night before at Beachwood East and at the Wild Dunes Property Owner's Beach House without laying at either spot. If so, we're glad she finally succeeded. INVENTORY UPDATE: There were 37 eggs that failed to develop in the nest. We never know why this happens, but we know nothing unusual happened such as the nest being flooded. No hatchlings were left in the nest after 3 days and hatch success was only 55.8%.
11	June 11	31st Avenue - Isle of Palms	110	August 7	90%
	This is Nest #11 for our nesting project and Nest #10 for the Isle of Palms. A turtle laid eggs just below the spring tide line at the 49th Avenue path. Judy Ewing and Sis Nunnally and their "canine auxiliary" squad discovered the tracks at the north end of their walk. Since the nest needed relocation, 110 eggs were taken to the 31A path to incubate. INVENTORY UPDATE: Only one hatchling was left in the nest at inventory and 10 eggs failed to develop for a hatch rate of 90%.
12	June 12	52nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	130	August 7	54.1%
	This morning Jeanne Robinson and Susan Daley were on their patrol and found tracks at 52nd Avenue. The signs were not distinct with lots of ghost crab tracks and two nearby holes dug by beachgoers, so there was doubt that she nested. However, after probing we did find eggs only about 3 inches below the surface in the middle of the body pit. Since the nest was in the flat washover area of the beach, 130 eggs were moved slightly higher on the beach to a newly developing dune one door south of the 52nd Avenue access path. INVENTORY UPDATE: This nest wasn't very successful with 59 unhatched eggs and 4 dead hatchlings in the nest - only 54.1% hatch rate.
13	June 13	17th Tee in Wild Dunes	142	August 4	93.6%
	Two turtles nested on the Isle of Palms during the night. One nest was found by Dan Simanaitis just beyond the 17th tee of the Links Course in Wild Dunes. Once the eggs were confirmed, we decided that the spot was high enough on the beach above the spring tide to be left where it was found. We have had successful nests there before and they certainly won't be bothered by any lights in that deserted section.INVENTORY UPDATE: This turned out to be a very large nest of 142 eggs. It was washed over by tide twice during incubation, but still did very well. Sixteen hatchlings were still in the nest at inventory.
14	June 13th	704 Ocean Blvd - Isle of Palms	99	August 2	88%
	Sandra McLean and Beverly Blalock and Elaine Schupp reported tracks in front of 704 Ocean Blvd at the south end. This one was just above the spring tide line, so once again we decided to mark the nest and leave it where the turtle put the eggs. INVENTORY UPDATE: All but eleven eggs hatched and all hatched turtles made it out of the nest before the inventory for an 88% hatch success.
15	June 20	7th Avenue Path - Isle of Palms	138	August 10	68.3%
	Sunday nights seem to be a favored time for our loggerheads to come ashore. This morning Elaine Schupp spotted tracks and a body pit that were small and rather hard to see because they were indistinct and all above the high tide line from a turtle who nested before the 11:30 pm high tide. Sandra McLean and Beverly Blalock were patrolling this section with her. This was in front of 700 Ocean Blvd but a little too low on the beach. We relocated 138 eggs higher and next door on the other side of the path in front of 622 Ocean Blvd in a good spot. Meanwhile in Dewees Inlet Dan Simanaitis found tracks and two body pits just beyond the 17th tee of the Links Golf Course. Evidently the turtle didn't like the first spot, so she chose another. She started to dig in the second place and gave up there too leaving a couple of holes in the sand but no eggs.INVENTORY UPDATE: For some reason 43 eggs in this nest did not develop, but the rest had hatched and already emerged for a 68.3% success.
16	June 23	42nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	95	August 12	90.5%
	Barbara Allen reported tracks near 42nd Avenue when she, Sue Googer, Jane Powers, and Linda Bettelli patrolled the beach this morning. Bev Ballow located the eggs and the nest was marked in situ and not relocated. This is very near to the other nest (number 8 on this list).INVENTORY UPDATE: Although a ghost crab had been going into this nest almost every night for the past week, the inventory revealed that 90.5% of the eggs had hatched and eight eggs did not develop.
17	June 23	26th Avenue - Isle of Palms	103	August 12	95.1%
	A second turtle nested during the night on the Isle of Palms. This one crawled on the very high dune at 26th Avenue to lay her eggs. This nest will get lots of hot sun during incubation because it was not moved. INVENTORY UPDATE: We were afraid that this nest would not be healthy because it was laid so high on the dune and got too much hot sun. However, the results were very good with all of the turtles out of the nest at inventory and only 4 eggs that did not develop 95.1%
18	June 24	17th Tee in Wild Dunes	134	August 14	82.8%
	A loggerhead nested last night very close to Nest #13 laid eleven days ago near the erosion control device in Dewees Inlet close to the 17th tee of the Wild Dunes Links course. Arlene Southerland, Sue Widhalm, and Diane Mullins came upon the tracks and were surprised to see a body pit with an open egg chamber. However, the turtle kept crawling after she dug there and did lay eggs not far from the sand fencing in a good spot. The eggs were confirmed but not relocated. So now there are two nests there quite close together, due about eleven days apart. INVENTORY UPDATE: Out of 134 eggs 22 failed to develop and 14 hatchlings were stuck in some very hard sand at the inventory. They were released on an outgoing tide. Hatch Success was 82.8%.
19	June 25	6th Avenue - Isle of Palms	118	Did Not Hatch	Unknown
	We had an amazing experience today. McClellan, a severely injured female loggerhead, was brought into the Aquarium a few days ago from the Cape Romain area with a severed front flipper from a crab pot rope and a boat strike wound. Her story was in Friday morning's Post & Courier. Last night she laid 119 eggs. They were carefully put in buckets of sand by the interns working at the Turtle Hospital. Kelly Thorvalson got DuBose Griffin of SCDNR to give permission for us to relocate them to a safe incubation spot here on the Isle of Palms. We carefully placed them in the warm sand in front of 608 Ocean Blvd and are optimistic that they will do well. We've done this kind of relocation with eggs that were in water shortly after being laid, and they were fine because development had not yet begun. UPDATE: These eggs were overdue for hatching when Hurricane Irene washed them away.
20	June 26	52nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	111	August 19	91.9%
	Another Sunday morning nest for this section - Jeanne Robinson found tracks near the tide line at 52nd Avenue. It was a classic body pit and made it easy for the eggs to be found. For once the turtle did not crawl back over the signs we needed to see. So 111 eggs were moved higher to the new dune line that is building up in that area. INVENTORY UPDATE: All but 8 eggs hatched successfully and all but two live hatchlings had left the nest. One had some abnormalities but was able to crawl to the ocean. Hatch Success was 91.9%.
21	June 28	29th Avenue - Isle of Palms	91	August 22	93.6%
	Last night a loggerhead nested against the 10 foot escarpment at the 18th Green of the Links Course in Wild Dunes. Cindy Bergstrom, Patti Horton, and Carmen Ullal discovered the tracks this morning. The trucked in and pumped in sand from offshore here is so coarse that the sharp seashells in it apparently cut open 3 of the eggs as they fell into the egg chamber. One of these eggs was used for the genetics study. This nest would certainly have been doomed by the high tides in this erosional spot, so the rest of the clutch, containing 91 eggs, was relocated to a safe dune at the 29th Avenue path for incubation.
22	July 1	29th Avenue - Isle of Palms	95	August 20	79.1%
	Another turtle nested along the 18th fairway at Ocean Point. Sue Widhalm was patrolling with Arlene Southerland and Diane Mullins and came across tracks. The body pit was up on a small eroding section of the beach just above the high tide line. Because this nest probably would not have survived where it was laid, it was moved to 29th Avenue next to Nest #20 where the 95 eggs will incubate. Sue, Arlene, and Diane also found Nest #17 which was left in Dewees Inlet on June 24th. INVENTORY UPDATE: An unusual 7:30 am boil of turtles surprised and delighted beachgoers who guarded the hatchlings as they went into the ocean.
23	July 4	36A Access Path - Isle of Palms	Unknown	August 25	Unknown
	The turtles were busy in the wee hours of July 4th. One laid eggs near the 36A Access Path. Linda Forslund found the tracks, and it was a perfect spot for a nest. So the eggs were not moved.UPDATE: This nest hatched very successfully. However, Hurricane Irene washed the eggshells away before the inventory. So the number of eggs and the hatch success are both Unknown.
24	July 4	36A Access Path - Isle of Palms	124	August 25	Unknown
	Another nest for Independence Day - Dan Simanaitis reported tracks on the beach in front of Seascape Condominiums in Wild Dunes. These eggs were just above the escarpment spot where erosion is occurring and needed to be relocated. We moved 124 eggs to an area near the 36A nest, so they could hatch at the same time.UPDATE: These hatchlings emerged at 9:30 am with lots of people on the beach. We counted over 90 tracks. The same thing happened to this nest as to the other two before and after it. No inventory results.
25	July 5	36A Access Path - Isle of Palms	130	August 23	Unknown
	After a loud and crowded night on the beach with fireworks and a strong wind blowing all night it was amazing that two turtles nested on the Isle of Palms on the night of July 4th. A tourist saw a turtle nesting in front of Shipwatch Condos around 11:00 last night and called the IOP police. By the time we got there around 6:30 am he tracks were almost all blown away and the body pit was indistinguishable from the rest of the crawl. Patti Horton and Carmen Ullal were on the job patrolling and gave moral support, getting credit for this nest. After probing for a while the eggs were found in a rather unlikely spot and 130 of them were moved to the location of yesterday's two nests at Access Path 36A. UPDATE: Nest was washed away after it hatched successfully by Hurricane Irene. So no inventory was done.
26	July 5th	5th Avenue - Isle of Palms	102	August 26	46.6%
	Franny Russell and Paula Urbano found tracks near the 5th Avenue Path. At first inspection there was no body pit here, but the outgoing tracks on the outgoing tide were much longer than the incoming ones, causing the Turtle Team to suspect that the turtle did indeed spend a long time on the beach. We returned to this spot after relocating the previous nest at Wild Dunes and probed the only likely-looking spot with no results. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a couple of sharp eyed turtle ladies noticed that there was some morning glory vegetation that was disturbed and uprooted high on the primary dune there. So we went to work in that spot. The eggs were there and the wind had totally blown away any other sign that the turtle had been in that area! Turtle CSI at its best and two more new nests. UPDATE: Even though this nest was spared by Hurricane Irene's storm surge, there were 54 eggs that did not develop for an unknown reason. Hatch Success was only 46%.
27	July 6	Ocean Point Pool - Isle of Palms	96	August 25	39.5%
	This morning's nest was a good example of why sand fencing is designed as it is. The turtle crawled between the sections along the 18th fairway and nested in the area that is across the fairway from the Ocean Point pool. Then she crawled back through another opening back to the ocean without bumping into the fencing. Jill Evangelista and her daughter reported faint windblown tracks and the eggs were quite a distance from the eroding section there. So the nest was left in situ without any relocation.UPDATE: Amazingly this nest survived Hurricane Irene so we were able to inventory it. Most of the surrounding dunes on the 18th fairway were severely damaged or washed away. However, for some reason many of these eggs either failed to develop or had dead hatchlings just pipping out of their shells giving it the very low hatch rate. UPDATE: Most of the area around this nest was washed away by Hurricane Irene, but the dune where it was laid was still there after the storm. With 38 eggshells and 57 unhatched eggs, however, the development of the eggs was not good keeping the hatch rate low.
28	July 7th	5th Avenue Path - Isle of Palms	128	August 27	93%
	Another Dewees Inlet nest was laid quite a way into the inlet from the Seagrass Lane Boardwalk. Dan and Doreen Tylak and Billie McRae spotted the tracks on a beautiful sunrise morning in the inlet with dolphins, sharks, and herons all around. The body pit was huge and oblong, but the eggs were found on the third poke of the stick. Since they needed relocation, 128 eggs were taken to the 5th Avenue path near where Nest #25 was laid two days ago. UPDATE: These lucky turtles were almost drowned by Irene's flood tide, but they survived to emerge from the nest that same night after the high tide flooded their underground nest - a good 93% hatch success.
29	July 8	Station 20 - Sullivan's Island	Unknown	Washed Away	0%
	The Turtle Team marked another nest on Sullivan's just before the rainstorm. During the night a turtle crawled into the primary dune line in front of Sullivan's Island Elementary near Station 20. Nat Robb, who lives near Station 22 on Atlantic Avenue, discovered tracks this morning and got word to Aussie Geer. The tracks were blown away, but we could see that the body pit was up near the sea oats and seaside elder in front of the school's nature trail. The eggs were not moved, so we don't know how many she laid. This nest will need to be watched carefully because the bright flashing light from the lighthouse close by will likely cause the hatchlings to be disoriented. It's great that the upper section of Sullivan's has a nest now. UPDATE: Hurricane Irene washed away the whole dune just a few days before this nest was due to hatch near the end of August.
30	July 11	Beachside - Isle of Palms	Unknown	Washed Away	0%
	Another two nest morning for the Turtle Team. Jeff Walker and Kathy Magruder found their second set of tracks for the season at Sand Dunes Lane, Beachside just north of the County Park. It was a beautiful classic body pit on the slope of the primary dune. This very small turtle could be a young neophyte (first time) nester because the space between her rear flipper claw marks was only 14" instead of the usual 21-23". We marked the nest and left it to incubate in situ. UPDATE: This nest was also washed away by Hurricane Irene a few days before hatching was due.
31	July 11th	35th Avenue - Isle of Palms	Unknown	Washed Away	0%
	Linda Forslund and Lori Nelson reported tracks near 35th Avenue. This is Linda and Lori's third nest of the season! This was a normal sized loggerhead, but she may have laid a very large clutch of eggs because the top ones were very shallow and just below the surface of the sand. One egg was broken and the shell was used for our genetics research study. We did not relocate this one either. Another classic body pit and the eggs were easy to find, quite a relief from last week's nests with few field signs in the blown dry sand.UPDATE: Severe storm erosion from Hurricane Irene washed the eggs into the ocean before hatching.
32	July 14	Station 20 - Sullivan's Island	111	Washed Away	0%
	We were doing the inventory on Isle of Palms' Nest #1 that hatched on Sunday night this morning in the rain when the Police Dispatcher called to say that Elizabeth and Terry Takats from Virginia had seen a turtle laying eggs at the north end of Sullivan's last night. The nest was in Breach Inlet not far from that last house with the red roof that is across the street from Sunrise Presbyterian Church. The eggs were found and 111 of them were placed next to the nest that was laid 6 days ago at Station 20 in front of the elementary school. UPDATE: Hurricane Irene also took these eggs before they could hatch.
33	July 16	9th Avenue - Isle of Palms	114	September 4	92.1%
	During the night a loggerhead nested at 9th Avenue. Some tourists told Sgt. Jimenez they saw her in the water around 11 pm. The wind had blown away all but the seaward sections of the tracks. But since she was there on an outgoing tide, we saw that she was on the beach for quite a while. It is always difficult to find eggs if we cannot see a body pit or thrown sand which are very important field signs. Our only other clue was some sea oat leaves that appeared to be broken and buried by blown sand in one spot at the base of the primary dune, so that was where we probed and found eggs. Christina Willson and Therease Metivier were patrolling that section, so they are credited with this nest. UPDATE: In spite of being washed over by Irene, this nest had a 92% hatch success with only one hatchling left in the nest when it was inventoried.
34	July 17	1st Avenue - Isle of Palms	105	September 4	91.5%
	Elizabeth Rast was very happy to find her first tracks after four years on the Turtle Team. The turtle crawled up on a beautiful dune next to the 1st Avenue Path close to Breach Inlet and laid her eggs. It was a clear body pit, making the eggs easy to find. The nest was marked and left in situ. Congratulations, Elizabeth! UPDATE: These turtles had tried to go back into the dunes when they emerged from the nest and had to be guided to the water. Fortunately it was an outgoing tide at Breach inlet and they all got into the water with a good current to help them. None remained in the nest at inventory and the hatch success was 91.5%.
35	July 19	50th Avenue - Isle of Palms	Unknown
	Gillian Ellis and Eric Liebrecht reported tracks at 50th Avenue. This turtle got onto a slightly elevated spot well above the high tide line to lay her eggs. When Mary Alice was probing she discovered some lacy pink panties under the sand that had been buried when nesting took place. We assume that they did not belong to the turtle! There was also a Barbie doll nearby that looked quite worse for wear. This nest was not moved and brings our total for both islands to 35.
36	July 23	31st Avenue - Isle of Palms	85	Washed Away	0%
	This morning Nancy Evans and Allyson Lutz found tracks in front of Port O' Call in Wild Dunes. This was a very small turtle by the size of her crawl and she only laid 86 eggs. The nest was just up onto the small escarpment and on a flat washed over section of beach, both reasons that it needed to be moved to a more protected spot. Late in the season we are more careful with nest placement because this nest will be there during peak hurricane season in September. So the eggs were taken to 31st Avenue and put one door south of the 31A path for safe incubation. UPDATE: The eggs were washed into the ocean during Hurricane Irene's storm surge.
37	July 24	31st Avenue - Isle of Palms	104	September 12	92.3%
	Another Wild Dunes nest at Ocean Club Villas this morning after the Port O' Call one yesterday. And it appeared from her tracks that this was a small young loggerhead, possibly another first season nester entering the breeding population. She chose a terrible location, right at the base of the 4 foot scarped dune of trucked in sand just south of the 18th green that is severely eroding with the high tides - a doomed location for sure. The eggs were found and relocated about 20 feet from yesterday's nest a few doors south of the 31A path for incubation. Judy Guarino, a veteran Turtle Team member, was pleased to find this nest after several years of substituting and not having any nests. INVENTORY UPDATE: In spite of almost being washed away by Hurricane Irene, this nest had a 92.3% hatch success. It was a close call with water washing over the nest and carrying the sign about a block down the beach, but 97 turtles succeeded in surviving.
38	July 25	31st Avenue	82	September 18	56.6%
	Another turtle nested at Wild Dunes at the Ocean Point beach along the 18th fairway. Emily Dziuban reported tracks early, but because of the two inventories scheduled, we did not get their for another hour. When we did, we found that the turtle had laid in a flat, washover-prone part of the beach, so 82 eggs were relocated to the 31A path where yesterday's nest was moved. We also found two tiny ones which are called "spacer" eggs when Leatherback turtles lay them. Perhaps she had a little extra calcium in her system for eggshell production which formed these. These eggs do not have yolks and do not produce hatchlings, but they are interesting to see. INVENTORY UPDATE: This nest was nearly lost to Hurricane Irene's erosion but managed to survive and hatched after 55 days of incubation. However, 35 eggs did not develop and hatch giving it a 56.6% hatch success.
39	July 28	32nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	132	Washed Away	0%
	It was a very good day for Christel Cothran who is in her first year of being on the Turtle Team. She's found false crawls this year, but today she found two nests, one near 53rd Avenue and one near 55th Avenue. The turtle who laid eggs at 53rd was another very small loggerhead, but she laid 133 eggs. One was broken and was used for the genetics study. It was moved to 32A Access Path because it was on the flood prone area of beach. UPDATE: This nest and its twin below were both washed away by Hurricane Irene.
40	July 28	32nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	94	Washed Away	0%
	The other nest found by Christel was at 55th and this loggerhead was larger. She laid 95 eggs. This one was also low on the flat washed over flat beach and would probably have been destroyed during the fall storm season. So it was also taken to the primary dune two doors south of the 32A access path where both will incubate for a September hatch. UPDATE: Same as Nest #39 above.
41	July 29	32A Access Path - Isle of Palms	80	Washed Away	0%
	Bill Schupp noticed tracks at the Beachwood East path this morning. The track measurement and the method of crawling (outgoing on top in incoming) was just the same as the False Crawl at 40th Avenue for which the police called us at 3 am. So it's possible that the same turtle swam north and laid eggs just before dawn in Wild Dunes. There were 81 eggs and one was broken in the bottom of the clutch and used for the genetics study. They were moved to a dune just north of the two nests from yesterday morning at the 32A path. UPDATE: Another clutch of eggs taken into the ocean by Hurricane Irene. At least we had gotten genetics samples for DNA testing before these nests were destroyed. Results are showing that even though these turtles lost what was probably their last nest, the ones they laid earlier in the season were successful.
42	August 7	33rd Avenue - Isle of Palms	105	Washed Away	0%
	Today was a really busy day with 2 inventories, two new nests, and two nests hatching. Ann Evans, Terri Stafford, and Sissy Harris (along with her visiting sister) were lucky enough to produce twins. Two turtles nested at 33rd Avenue and at 40th Avenue during the night. The Turtle Team was scheduled to begin this morning's inventories at 7:30, so we were tag teaming and scrambling around to take care of relocating and marking these nests and still getting to 6th Avenue on time. IOP Nest #39 at 33rd Avenue contained 105 eggs that needed to be moved higher above the spring tide line so this was done. UPDATE: Taken into the ocean by Hurricane Irene's storm surge.
43	August 7	33rd Avenue - Isle of Palms	119	Washed Away	0%
	Terri, Ann, and Sissy were very surprised to come upon a second set of tracks at 40th Avenue. Since these were laid too low on the beach, it was decided to put these eggs next to the nest laid the same night at 33rd Avenue, so 119 eggs were relocated to be near the first nest of the day. UPDATE: Another casualty from Hurricane Irene. Although several well-meaning people tried to save eggs as they washed into the surf, none of these efforts was successful.
44	August 8	18 Beachwood East - Wild Dunes	103	August 8	91.2%
	Fred, Mary Ann, and Jennifer Shinners discovered a few hatchlings heading to the water at Beachwood East when they were on their morning patrol. No nests had been marked in this area. When we got there, we found hatchling tracks all over the dunes for about a block in that area. The egg chamber was found with dozens of tracks coming out of it in front of 18 Beachwood East, and it was on the landward side of the primary dune. There were outside lights left on at #19 Beachwood East and most of the tracks headed that way. With the help of the Shinners family and Bob Clarke, we rescued about 12 hatchlings and got them into the ocean. We marked the spot with a nest sign. INVENTORY UPDATE: Even though we suspect a large number of turtles were disoriented and died, the inventory results showed that 91% of them hatched and 88% made it out of the nest. NOTE: This nest was documented as a "Wild Nest" or an Undetected Nest since the tracks were not reported to the Turtle Team the second week of June when it was laid. We have submitted at Disorientation Report with photos to the Department of Natural Resources. Many times the turtles can make it all right without our help, but in this case it was a shame that we could not prevent the loss of many hatchlings.
45	August 23	Station 10 - Sullivan's Island	108	August 23	88.5%
	Another surprise "wild nest," which is the term for an undetected nest. This one was laid outside of our patrol area in the Charleston Harbor end of Sullivan's Island. This area has very little beach and the turtle must have made it over the rock wall to nest in the yard of the house at the Station 10 path. We became aware of the nest when Patty Durling who lives in the dependency apartment next door found a hatchling crawling in her driveway. After much searching and a couple of days of wondering, we found the egg chamber and were able to perform the inventory finding an 88.5% hatch rate. This was the 4th nest of the season on Sullivan's Island and the only time we know of when a nest was laid so far onto the south end.
46	August 4	32nd Avenue - Isle of Palms	75	September 30	85.3%
	This one was listed as a "possible nest" because the eggs could not be located at the time they were laid. Linda Bettelli, Sue Googer, Jane Powers, and Barbara Allen found tracks next to the 32nd Avenue path. However, the wind had blown away all signs except for the tracks down in the wet sand. We did find broken green vegetation high on the dune and we did see that the outgoing tracks were much longer than the incoming ones. So we were pretty sure that eggs were laid. However, it took 57 days to verify this and to add this nest to the list. Only 11 of the 75 eggs failed to develop and no hatchlings were in the nest when it was inventoried. Hatch success was 85%.

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