Nesting Update & Hatchling Walks
Education, How YOU can Help!, Nesting Program, Research, Sea Turtle, turtles Add commentsHere’s the latest update on the sea turtle nests and false crawls on Jekyll Island, GA:
In other, related news….HATCHING SEASON HAS BEGUN! While it is still just beginning and rather slow, we are expecting it to pick up soon! So, we have decided to start our Hatchling Walk Program! Please visit our website: www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org for more information and schedule. Call 912-635-4444 for reservations (space is limited!).
Please remember and follow the turtle-friendly tips we’ve listed on previous BLOG postings and on our website..lighting is especially important in regards to the hatchlings, so leave those flashlights at home!
With hatching season upon us, we have some additional guidelines we’d like everyone to follow:
-If you see a nest hatching, please remain at least 20 feet away from it. The research team (i.e. Turtle Patrol) needs to count these tracks and record other various, valuable data from these nests in the mornings. Walking on the hatchling tracks impedes this process and documentation. You also run the risk of stepping on a hatchling!
-NEVER pick up a hatchling and/or ‘help it to the ocean’. Hatchlings gather very important information during their journey from the nest to the water. They also build up muscle strength during this time and a determination to fight for survival-all very important skills needed to improve their chances at making it to adulthood and coming back to nest on Jekyll!
-If you see a hatchling near the water, flipped upside down, please resist the temptation to flip it back over. At this stage, their flippers are a little too big for them with, together with their ‘rubbery’ shells (not yet completely hardened), they can actually flip themselves over quite nicely! And again, this is important to their survival skills.
-To reports a disoriented hatchling (i.e. in the dunes, cross-overs, parking lots or street) or a ‘wash-back’ hatchling (one that has been washed back onto shore and appears too week to fight the surf), please call the GSTC at 912-635-4444 with as much information about the hatchling and it’s location as possible.
-Remember, hatchlings are easily negatively impacted by artificial lighting. Never take flash photos of them at night, shine a flashlight or any other type of light at them.
Thank you all for your cooperation in assuring all of our turtle mothers and hatchlings have the best chance of survival on Jekyll Island!
Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Marine Field Programs Coordinator
July 28th, 2009 at 8:38 am |
Will there be many hatchlings around the weekend of August 22nd? My family & I will be there at that time & the children would absolutely love to witness their first struggles to make it to the ocean & to be honest their dad & I would find it fascinating as well.
Thank you for doing all you do to ensure their safety & protection.
July 28th, 2009 at 12:00 pm |
Unfortunately, we cannot predict how many hatchlings or nests will be hatching at any particular time. The incubation period is anywhere from 45-65 days, sometimes up to 70 days. You also have to figure in potential storms (as this is hurricane season) that may cause more erosion and have an impact on the nests. What I can tell you is that August and September are typically the peak of nesting season for us. Hope that helps!
Stefanie
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:15 pm |
I just made a site on the hatchling walks