Turtles Everywhere
Liz Rigg/Gazette Staff Photographer and Elle Hiller/ Special to the Gazette
Last summer, while working for a local cable station on Fripp Island, Liz was approached by the island naturalist Adam Henderson and asked to do a public service announcement to help the sea turtles. The night before, Adam informed Liz that he was picking turtle hatchlings from the rock revetments, heading for the lights illuminating from the homes on the beach. The message was "Lights Out for the Sea Turtles. Since last year Liz has been hooked. Reading as much as we can to educate ourselves about these prehistoric creatures, talking to the experts and then becoming involved with the Fripp Island Loggerhead Patrol thanks to Anthony and Karen Natoli, coordinators for the loggerhead patrol on Fripp.
Liz began "turtle patrol" this past May. On Tuesday and Friday mornings getting up an hour earlier and heading for the beach on Fripp Island, just past dawn each morning, we look for the telltale signs that a loggerhead lumbered onto the beach to lay her eggs. The first few weeks were pretty discouraging. "Where are the turtles?" We kept asking ourselves. There were a lot of theories and suppositions. The experts were consulted and everyone had their own opinion as to why there were no nests. "It’s the shrimpers", One resident said. Others believed it was because of the cold winter or upswells of deeper water, killing turtles’ food sources. Still others blame the increased human presence on the beach at night. All along the East Coast, turtle nest numbers were way down compared to previous years. Whatever the reason, We wanted to see turrets!
Fast forward, June 2004. We received an email from the Natolis describing the turtle trip of a lifetime to the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Melbourne Florida hosted by the Ocean Conservancy. This 20-mile stretch of beach on the Atlantic coast is host to thousands of nesting Loggerhead (Caretta caretta),
Green (Chelonia mydas ) and Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles each year.
We arrived at the Tiara by the Sea Motel (an old Florida beach style motel known for being "turtle friendly") Wednesday July 21st in the afternoon and soon after checking in, the emerald waters called us in for a dip.
Wednesday night our group met up with the Ocean Conservancy group in the hotel lobby for a slide show and lecture about sea turtles. We were introduced to Jessica Koelsch, Florida Marine Wildlife Project Manager and Kate Hanley, Manager for Corporate and Foundation Relations of the Ocean Conservancy. Following the lecture and slide show about sea turtles, with only the reflection of sea luminescence of the water to guide us, we walked the beach in search of nesting loggerhead and green turtles. We saw evidence of crawls and hatchlings that exited from their sandy nests, but no nesting loggerheads.
Thursday morning at sunrise, on the beach directly in front of the hotel, we could see evidence that a loggerhead sea turtle crawled onto the beach, dug and laid her nest before lumbering back to sea. Just a preview of what we were about to experience that day. By ten a.m. we were at a boat landing on the Indian River Lagoon within the Sebastian Inlet State Park to meet up with Dr. Lew Ehrhart and his students from Central Florida University. The Itinerary promised that we would capture, tag and measure juvenile sea turtles feeding in the Indian River Lagoon.
Elle and Liz were on the boat with Dr. Ehrhart and three of his students and set out the 5,000 meter net with floats and dive flags. Within ten minutes of setting the net out, we caught the first turtle, a juvenile Green turtle.
It was an unbelievable sight as the students pulled the turtle loose from the nets and placed her on the deck of the small Boston Whaler. Fibropapiloma, a close relative of the human papiloma virus, covered the little green turtle’s carapace and joints. Despite what appeared to be a devastating and debilitating malady, the young turtle was full of spunk as she tried to navigate her way on the deck of the boat.
The turtle was transferred to another boat filled with other students and folks from our group. The turtle was measured and weighed. Blood was drawn and then flipper tags and a PIT (passive integrated transponder) was inserted in the turtle with a wide bore needle. Some of the larger turtles caught were released almost immediately. While still others were brought back to a research facility for additional DNA testing.
In all, we captured and brought onto the boat a total of seven green turtles of various sizes in addition to four bull sharks and a beautiful spotted eagle ray. The larger turtles were released after being measured and tagged as were the sharks and the ray.
An added bonus waited for us on the shoreline. The Turtle Hospital from Marathon Florida sent an ambulance with four green turtles that were rehabbed and ready to release. Each of us in pairs carried the turtles to the shore line, posed for some pictures, then carried the turtles to the waterline and watched them gingerly make their way back to the sea. What a rush! We followed the turtles into the water and watched their colorful shells beneath the surface of the water until they were out of sight.
Following the release, a picnic lunch amid beautiful sea grapes and palm trees waited for us. Every person in our group spoke of the epiphanies and awe we felt as we captured each turtle on the boats and released the turtles on the shore. We were true advocates of sea turtles and passionate about doing what we could, once we returned home, to help "our" turtles.
The next day, we were picked up in a large van by Paul Tritaik, Refuge Manager for ACNWR, and taken on a tour of the refuge. He discussed the history and significance of the refuge, continuing land purchase and protection efforts, beach armoring battles, public education programs, refuge management, and the Archie Carr Wildlife Refuge Working Group. While walking the beach, we encountered one of the staff that was inventorying a recently hatched nest. A few live hatchlings remained in the nest and we watched as they were freed to scramble down the beach to the sea. We formed two lines on either side of their path to protect them from predators such as birds and ghost crabs, and waded into the ocean to observe their tiny raised heads disappearing into the surf. That sight touched everyone.
Paul also took us on a side trip to the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. It was established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt as the first national wildlife refuge in the United States, and is currently administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is currently home to 55 pair of brown pelicans. A total of sixteen species of birds nest on Pelican Island among the wetlands, mangroves and maritime hammock habitats.
On this trip, I think the best was saved for last. Friday evening, Dr. Ehrhart and his wife Carol were hosts to our group and several of his students for dinner. Doc’s home is situated within the refuge on the Indian River Lagoon. We migrated out to the dock as the sun was setting and listened as Dr. Ehrhart told more stories of his encounters with sea turtles. The man is a textbook when it comes to his knowledge and experience with these ancient creatures. All of us were mesmerized by his stories and wanted to soak up some of his passion and knowledge.
After dinner, we all met up on the ocean side of the refuge to walk the beach in search of nesting turtles with some of Dr. Erhart’s students acting as scouts on ATVs.
There were several nests inventoried earlier that day with several hatchlings left behind. We watched the stray hatchlings scramble out in the surf in search of their siblings.
We were not disappointed! Shortly after we started walking, following the hatchling release, the radio came alive with the voice of one of the students. " We have a turtle nesting on the beach."
We walked at a brisk pace close to the water, trying to keep up with Dr. Ehrhart. Before we knew it, Doc was running up to the dune line then threw himself onto the sand on his stomach. He called for each of our group to get closer. There it was, a huge loggerhead dropping Ping-Pong sized eggs into a hole she dug with her rear flippers in the sand. With only red flashlights to see with, the area was excavated from the rear for all of us to get a better view.
After she finished nesting, we watched her rear flippers cover up the eggs, then fling the sand in all directions to camouflage the nest. Watching her flippers was like seeing someone knead dough with mittens. The students then moved in with calipers, tape measures, flipper tags, scanners and notebooks.
With purpose and speed, while the turtle is oblivious to all as if in a trance, the students measure, scan and tag the mama turtle before she begins her arduous trek back to sea.
Dr. Ehrhart told us to rub her shell to look for "sea luminescence" or Bioluminescence. Her shell glowed bright neon green as we rubbed her back following her back to sea. We stood in the surf until we could see her no more.
For the rest of the night we saw more nesting loggerheads and tracks showing evidence of sea turtles nesting on this small stretch of beach.
We wanted to see turtles, and we saw more turtles than we could ever hope for.
Coming back to Beaufort, we feel a whole appreciation for these ancient creatures and want to do all we can to help this endangered species.
You too can help. For more information, contact the Ocean Conservancy online at www.oceanconservancy.org. You can also get more information about sea turtles in this state by contacting the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, www.dnr.state.sc.us.