The world according to me....

I was lucky enough to be invited to participate with a poundnet trip as part of a larger mark-recapture study. The sky was deep blue and the air was sharply cool as we headed out across Core Sound to the poundnets. The first net had some flounder but no turtles, the same with the second and third. We fished 6 nets but none had a turtle swimming in it. The last time I came out, there were turtles swimming about in every net. Could it be that the recent drop in temperatures has signaled a departure of most of the turtles from inshore waters in North Carolina? Some of the turtles being tracked by satellite transmitters have started heading south in the offshore waters of North Carolina. Now, we are waiting to see if there will be any turtles that don’t make it out of North Carolina waters before it gets too cold (below 10 °C). If there are, they will likely become cold-stunned. In that case, assuming they are found in time, the cold-stunned turtles will be taken to rehabilitation centers for treatment and eventual release.