sand in the eyes

What a crazy night on the beach.  We're in a heat wave here on IOP, as much of the southeast.  Every day we beat a new record.  Yesterday we were at 97 degrees and 111 heat index.  A lot of people came to the beach and we had two sharkbites in one day, an extremely rare occurrence here. Sharks are not out there to attack humans and bites are mistaken identity. 

The heat effected the nests, too.  We had one nest erupt the other night several days ahead of its schedule.  These lazy hatchlings sat on top of the nest waiting for the sand to cool.  We sat with them until two a.m. before they finally scrambled out to sea.

Yesterday Barb and I spoke to a group at Kiawah Resort.  TURTLE SUMMER was the Kiawah Reads! selection for this summer and we had a great time giving our powerpoint presentation using Barb's fabulous photos.  When we came back we thought we'd head out to the nest due that night a little late due to the hot weather. Surely, we thought, the sand wouldn't cool until late.  As it turned out I needed a ride to the beach (long story) and my daughter dropped me off early.  There already was a fairly large group of people hanging around the nest.  Barb and Mary were there, too.  After a few minutes I went to look at the nest and there was a loggerhead hatchling half out of the nest, head and flippers, and just waiting there.  As we watched her, someone from down the beach called out, "Hey, there's a hatchling on the beach!"

Those wily turtles!  While we were watching this one turtle on top, another one had already escaped.  We quickly formed two lines --the visitors were great--and in minutes we had a boil.  The kids were naming the turtles: Missy, Nemo, Zig Zag...  In short order, the healthy hatchlings made their way to the ocean and hopefully on to the Gulf Stream.

Meanwhile, we got word that the nest at 21st was hatching.  Barb and Mary headed off to that location.  Franny and I opted to stay with this nest, close up and wait for the few more we suspected were still in the nest.  The crowd moved off and Frannie and I enjoyed the relative peace sitting on the beach.  The wind was blowing, however, and sand was flying.  After waiting another hour, one sole hatchling climbed from the nest.  She  had an honor guard as she made her way to the sea.

You may be wondering why I call the hatchlings "she."   Research has shown that the sex of the sea turtles are determined by the heat of the sand.  Hot sand temp produces females.  Cool sand temp produces males.  Or, "Hot chicks, cool dudes." Given the hot temperatures of the sand, we're guessing these hatchlings were females.

The report from the hatching at 21st was that the 80 some hatchlings boiled and made it to the ocean, but then turned around FROM THE WATER to go back toward the street.  This is heartbreaking because it is clear evidence that even with lights out on the beach the glare from the town and city beyond is so great it overpowers nature's light on the water.  The hatchlings are disoriented and head to the brightest light--to certain death.  The turtle team had to scoop up the turtles and bring them back to the water several times before they finally got the idea and headed off in the right direction.

I went home and showered buckets of sand off my body.  When I awoke this morning my eyes were still gritty.  We all feel good that our work on the beach saved a lot of hatchlings lives.