The world according to me....

Wendy, my colleague who also works on the NC Sea Turtle Project, is usually a mild mannered person. Therefore, it was something of a surprise when I answered the phone and she shouted "You better get over here RIGHT NOW!" Then again, she had good reason to shout: there was a leatherback nesting on a nearby beach in the late afternoon. Leatherback nests are relatively rare in North Carolina, and all have occurred on the beaches of the Cape Lookout or Cape Hatteras National Seashores. This was the first time a leatherback has been documented nesting on the island of Bogue Banks and any daytime nesting event by a sea turtle is a great opportunity to watch everything without the need of flashlights, etc. I tried to call as many people as I could, although in several cases I could only leave a message on their answering machine. We arrived in time to see the turtle covering, and there was a crowd of about 20 or so people. The turtle took her time throwing sand around, and then marched back towards the sea. In the photo above, you can see several of the locally based sea turtle researchers and biologists, including Catherine McClellan, Lisa Campbell (and Linden), Chris Taylor, Larry Crowder, Larisa Avens, Kristin Holloman, Wendy Cluse, Lisa Goshe, and several sea turtle volunteers from Pine Knoll Shores beach where the turtle chose to lay her eggs.

Just before she reached the water, the turtle turned around in a complete circle. Several of the onlookers were concerned that she had been disturbed, but not Larisa. When I caught her eye, she was nodding her head. She was thinking what I was thinking: this turtle had just completed an orientation circle, This behavior in leatherbacks had been documented by Archie Carr but more fully described by Nicholas Mrosovsky in a 1975 publication. This fact sealed what was a big day of firsts: First leatherback nest on Bogue Banks, first experience with a leatherback for Lisa (and Linden), first daytime nesting turtle in North Carolina this year, and first time that I encountered someone who had also read the early publications of my graduate supervisor!