Rare leatherback sea turtles hatch in Walton Co., FL

[eppur_se_muova]

(Kinda old news, but I used to live in neighboring Okaloosa Co., and would have been pretty damned excited to see something like this. Kudos to the volunteers at SWTWG! Sea turtles have benefited from volunteer activism more than just about any other endangered species.)

Walton County’s first-ever documented leatherback sea turtle nest has hatched, and 23 babies have made their way safely to the Gulf of Mexico.

After 79 days of close watch by the South Walton Turtle Watch Group, Walton County’s sea turtle nest No. 12, located in Seagrove just west of Seagrove Villas, came to life Oct. 6 following the day’s heavy rain.

At 9:15 p.m., Turtle Watch Volunteer Joe Burton checked on the nest and found a tiny flipper coming out of the sand. After making several phone calls, Burton, fellow volunteer Sharon Maxwell, and 23 other spectators crowded around the nest as the baby sea turtles slowly emerged and crawled into the water.

“A truly awesome sight,” Maxwell said.

Nest No. 12 was laid on July 17. The mother’s wide tracks in the sand indicated to volunteers that it was a rare leatherback nest so the South Walton Turtle Watch paid extra close attention to it throughout the duration.



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more: http://community.emeraldcoast.com/articles/nest_19261___article.html/maxwell_turtle.html

Hopefully, after a decade or so (during which they may travel to Europe, Africa, or South America), these hatchlings will return to nest here themselves -- only now they'll be ALL GROWN UP !

[nashville_brook]

1. all my best to the Leatherback babies!

wondering, though -- the photo shows the mother laying eggs in the daylight. does anyone know if that normal/healthy?

i witnessed a turtle laying eggs in the daylight farther south in Satellite Beach and someone said it was not a good sign that she was coming ashore during the day.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Well, I notice it's foggy there -- maybe that has something to do with it ...

although I really don't know. As you say, they are normally night layers. (The pic is from CA, FWIW.)

[Bobbieo]

3. How terribly exciting. I have a pair of red sliders in Yuma , Az

I fixed up the pond so she could get out and lay eggs in a patch of sand. Last summer I watched her lay her egs on four separate occasions. In the fall up to almost Christmas I was rewarded with eight hatchlings. Six of them survived.

Oh boy, are they work!!! I let the adults, Felix and Oscarina, exercise in the big cement pond. BTW - She was Oscar until she laid eggs. They are very,very special to me.

[nashville_brook]

6. i had no idea turtles laid eggs in CA -- very cool.

one of the best things about turtle-awareness in Brevard Co is that there's rules about light pollution b/c the turtles will get confused and go toward the artificial light (west) instead of the natural moon light on the ocean. in Orlando, i really miss the dark night sky.

[jpak]

4. Wow - that's an amazingly rare event in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Thanks for posting...

[XemaSab]

5. How COOL!

I saw copulating sea turtles in Florida on the ride out to the Tortugas. :)