July 29th Doming the Nests

Jackie Boyce is on left, her sister Olivia Boyce-Abel is in middle and Kat Boyce their niece is on right. Jackie & Olivia's Mother (Kat's grandmother) Anne Tilghman Boyce donated the land to Coastal Carolina University.

July 29th & 30th started out as a prize for James Island High students for placing 2nd @ the Regional National Ocean Science Bowl Competition.Karen Fuss was kind enough to extend an open invitation to all her Turtle Monitor Volunteers to join in on the evenings activities. The evening started out with pizza at the cottage. Desserts were provided by a few volunteers. Barb Demusz brought ice cream, Nancy Mercurio brought homemade crumb cake ( still warm in the pan ) and Karen Fox brought chocolate chip cookies. At 7:00 p.m. we set out to Waites Island to dome nests 1,2 & 3. Our group was quite large with Karen Fuss,the 3 students Jason,Nick and Louis,their teacher Sue Morrison,two representatives from FFA Camp and several Turtle Monitors. We had a few members of the Boyce Family also join us and shared stories about time spent growing up on Waites.The doming process went well with Jason,Nick and Louis taking care of the redigging of the form for the cage. It was amazing how the weather had caused the sand to nearly fill the cage at one nest. This morning Karen"s guests joined the Wednesday Walkers and helped not only with the search for turtle crawls but also with cleaning up the beach. After checking Nest 10 we ventured over the Jetty to show them the Inlet side. On behalf of all the volunteers I'd like to wish Jason,Nick and Louis all the best as they prepare to start college next month. I will remember the bamboo reed and watermelon pinata. I'd also like to extend well wishes on behalf of all of our volunteers to Kathy Turnauer for a speedy recovery. Kathy was in a car accident and wasn't able to join her Wednesday walkers today. Posted 7/30/2008 by Chuck & Karen

Tuesday Walkers Find Nest #12

Tuesday Morning July 29th shortly after Nancy,Bob and Karen set out to check the short end of Waites Island we found Nest #12. The nest was different from the previous nests with the eggs close to the surface. Two eggs were found outside the nest and buried outside the cage. We had 10 volunteers on hand along with Steve and Barbara to help with securing the nest. With only two days left in July our number of nests is growing. Waites Island is becoming a popular place for our nesting sea turtles.Posted on July 29th by Chuck & Karen.

The "Monday Morning M & M's" discover nest #11 on July 28

It was an exciting and busy morning for the "Monday Morning Marauders".We first discovered a false crawl. The marks look like Barnacle Betty. Fortunately she must have come back and the second crawl proved to be a nest.

Do you think Louise was excited over our find?


Barbara came to assist us. We all want to thank her for all her help and expertise.

Unfortunately we also had a dead turtle. She just have died just before we got there. She was still in good condition so Barbara took her home and put her on ice. Someone from DNR was to come and try to determine the cause of death. Her shell was cracked in several places. Probably from a boat propeller.

While all of this was going on Jamie called to say there was a nest on North Myrtle Beach. She brought the eggs and we helped relocate nest #5 from North Myrtle Beach.

Posted by Betty Berginski

Fox attempts 2nd break in!

This morning July 24th, the fox attempted to break into nest #10 for the second day in a row. Wednesday as we were covering up the hole I thought I should have taken a picture and shared it with everyone but the thought came too late. This morning when Valerie and I got to nest #10 we saw the fox tried another break in. The Fox was unsuccessful the past two days but we may want to check the nest daily. We do not have any new turtle nests to report about today for the Thursday walkers however we did see an interesting spider down by the surf. Check out the pictures!
Posted 7/24/08 by Chuck & Karen Fox

A lovely morning for family and friends

Family picture Little Brother (Michael),
Mom (Barb)

The whole crew

Today, some of my family and friends and I joined the Wednesday walkers on Waties. We got out there a little late and ended up walking a bit behind the others, but no nests were found today. They all had a great time walking the beach and finding shells, but were disappointed that there weren't any turtles. Oh well, maybe next time they visit!

HAPPY TURTLE TRACKING EVERYONE!!!!

~Stephanie

Nest #10 at Waites Island thrills visitors

July 22, 2008 was an exciting day for some friends of Sandy and Bob's as well as a new volunteer Sherry Kelley. Marker 9 is becoming a popular nesting place with another nest ( #10 ) being found this morning. The fox beat us there and destroyed 7 eggs. Three eggs were outside the nest while Steve found 4 more inside the nest. Most of the tracks were washed away but enough of them were left for the Tuesday Turtle Trackers (say that 10 times fast) to find. We had Lot's of help as we had our regular team members Karen,Nancy,Sandy and Bob,Dave and Judy as well as a new volunteer Sherry and 3 guests of the Frantom's. Nancy took care of recording all the data as Steve and Bob prepared the site. Great job Tuesday Team! Posted by Chuck and Karen Fox

The Monday Morning M&M's discover nest #9 on Monday July 21, 2008

Monday Morning M&M's
Betty, Jeri, Walt, Dick, Carol, Lois's Grandson, Lois. Louise and Catherine were absent.

• The Monday Morning Marauders (Alias Moaners) set out to roam and pillage the beach on Waties Island in quest of booty. We scurried over the dunes and three of us headed to the right towards marker one. First Mate Walt noticed a disturbance in the sand up ahead. Mates Betty and Jeri were afraid to hope. Low and behold a turtle had come in and left us what we believed to be a nest.


• Captain Steve was waiting on call and arrived in his black pirate truck. Mate Jeri drove the truck up the island to rescue the other M&M's and soon every one was back and ready to discover if we had found the buried treasure.
  Eureka! In no time as we dug away the sand the sparkle of white eggs appeared.
  We closed up the nest and secured it to prevent raids by other enemy poachers.
  We await the evening in about 45 to 65 days when the real jewels will appear.
  
  Posted by: Betty Berginski
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Thursday's Walkers Observe Ocean Swimmers!

Waties Island, a beautiful morning for Thursday's  walkers...no Turtle track, and certainly not an event  to equal Wednesday's team...but...!

Walking past marker #6, we ( Sandy and Nancy) noticed a few birds enjoying a large fish on the sand.  Inquisitively,  we approached the shoreline to observe a ?? swimming frenzy.  

Camera on ?? targets...fins appeared as the waves rode in to shore..... our surprise..??. two 'sharks' treading fast in the ocean waters.  The 2 sharks swam in area close 10-15 minutes.

Karen Fuss, walking with Thursday's team,  contacted an expert at CCU, 

Dr. Dan Abel, a shark expert.   

These 2 'sharks, with 2 big Dorsal fins, a brownish-yellow color are called, "LEMON SHARKS."

A number of BIG ones have been caught this year according to CCU.

Excitement and learning everyday @ Waties.....new experiences and surprises ongoing.

Turtle tracking treasures abound for all teams.

Thursday's Team: Karen F. Matt, Ray, Bob, Sandy and Nancy.

The "Star" - July 16, 2008

July 16, 2008 Turtle Discovery

Team Picture - July 16, 2008 Turtle Discovery

July 16, 2008
Wednesday Walkers hit the jackpot today! Debbie and Dale saw some tracks and followed them and found a turtle laying her eggs in the dune! She looked at us, but continued to dig, lay eggs, and cover them with sand. After she left, we confirmed that there were eggs, and a cage was placed over the nest. Very exciting!!
Marie

Now We're Cooking - Nest #7!!

This morning brought us another momma to Waties to lay her eggs. The crawl was down between Markers 1 and 2, but high up on top of a dune. Does this sound familiar? Possibly a fifth nest by Barnacle Betty, although this isn't absolutely confirmed. A possibility though...

Nancy, Bob, Sandy, Rita, Dave and Judy were here today for the Tuesday team. Good going!

Monday Morning "Moaners" Now "Marauders" are Big help in transfer!

Not only did they have 2 nests ready, they stayed and helped!

NMB3 and NMB4

Jamie educating tourists at 6th ave. N. (Sandy handling probes)

Barbara & Sandy take bucket of eggs off beach at 10th ave. N.

Stephanie (left) (click to enlarge)
digging trench for cage and
Gerri looking on (click to enlarge
& check out that great image). Jamie with Sandy reaching deep (below right-click to enlarge T-shirt.)

Bob reaching deep at 10th ave. N. (nice hat, Bob!)

Barbara at 10th ave. N. nest - check out

handsome new

Waites Island

Sea Turtle Monitor T shirt!

(click to enlarge)