These are all loggerhead "monthlings" that were being kept by the Topsail Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabiltation Center for the past few months. All of them were found either injured, coldstunned, or weak on the beaches of NC in the autumn months, and needed some care at the Topsail Hospital before returning to the wild. However, because the water temperatures near the beaches are so cold in the winter, it was necessary to wait until the right opportunity arrived. One opportunity did arrive this past week: the Cape Hatteras research vessel operated by Duke University and UNC was heading to Bermuda for a few weeks. One of the boat crew, John Ahern, agreed to take the small turtles and release them in or near the Gulf Stream, close to mats of floating sargassum. About 45 minutes before the trip, Zoë Meletis helped me prepare the turtles for their short trip on board to the Gulf Stream:

Despite being a cold and wet day in Beaufort, I heard from John that the turtles had been releasd a few hours later in 22 °C water in the Gulf Stream. All of them swam happily away from the boat. Special thanks to Catherine McClellan who made time while at the Sea Turtle Symposium in Savannah to call me and tell me where to find small transport bins and baskets.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Following on the discussion of an earlier blog, getting rid of a dead turtle is not a straightforward issue. Depending on where you are and what kind of resources you have, either it can be easy or it can be extremely difficult. This is true in North Carolina: on remote spoil islands, there is no way for us to move large turtle carcasses, while on more developed beaches, the local public works employees come out with heavy equipment to help us out. In the most recent case, I responded to a medium sized loggerhead carcass. After I took all the necessary information, I decided that the easiest course of action was to simply bury it (after painting it first, of course).

Of course, when I finished, I started to wonder how many turtles are buried on our beaches.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's winter in North Carolina, and the water just off the beach is too cold for releases. However, the Gulf Stream is not so far away, so all that is needed is an amenable boat captain and crew to transport the turtles to warmer water. So far this winter, we have been fortunate enough to be able to release a number of rehabilitated turtles at or near the Gulf Stream. Just recently, seven turtles at the NEST rehabilitation facility in Manteo were deemed fit for release. I asked around and found out from Catherine McClellan that there was a research vessel picking up supplies and some researchers from Morehead City in a few days, and would then depart for warmer waters. A few calls and emails later, we had secured a place for the turtles on the ship. However, before we could send the turtles out, we had to outfit three of the big juvenile loggerheads with satellite transmitters. Fortunately, we had plenty of willing hands to help prepare the carapaces and hold the transmitters in place while the epoxy cured. Here is Wendy finalizing the expoxy spread that will hold the satellite tag into place:

The turtles stayed in tanks overnight, then were taken to meet the boat the following day at the DMF dock in Morehead City. It turned out to be the R/V Savannah out of Georgia.

This was appropriate given that the International Sea Turtle Symposium was to take place in Savannah in a few days. The boat crew and research team showed care and concern for the turtles from the moment we arrived, so we knew they were in good hands. After we secured their berth in one of the lab rooms on the boat, we said our goodbyes and waited for news. Not long aftterwards, I had a call from the ship: the turtles had been successfully released and were seen swimming happily away.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

At the end of a beach nourishment project, the finishing touch consists of tilling (essentially dragging a big rake back and forth across the beach). The logic behind this is that tilling will ensure that the new material placed on the beach is not too compact for the succesful digging of sea turtle nests. However, is tilling always necessary? In general, the less manipulation done to the beach, the better. Guidelines for post-nourishment project tilling do exist, but they are antiquated and it invariably has been easier for the engineering firm hired to complete the nourishment project to always till afterwards. In the case of the current project on Atlantic Beach, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and the US Army Corps of Engineers agreed to withhold automatic tilling until we could check out the compaction using a penetrometer.

This is Kristin Holloman, a biologist working on sea turtles in Atlantic Beach, using the penetrometer to test the compaction on the beach. As it turned out, some parts of the beach were highly compact while others were not. Specifically, in those areas where the nourished material had high levels of organic content (i.e. mud), we couldn't get the penetrometer deeper than 3-4 inches from the surface. We recommended tilling in these compact zones. For the areas with less organic content (see picture at the top), the compaction was similar to beach areas that have not been nourished. We recommended that no tilling take place in these zones. One concern has been the extensive use of vehicles on the beach, both as a result of the nourishment project and by the public (see tire tracks in photo at the top). For now, the compaction of the material did not seem to be negatively affected, but we will keep an eye on it. Of course, the best indicator of the suitability of the material will be whether the turtles use these zones for nesting, starting in May 2005.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is the Cape Hatteras research vessel operated jointly by UNC and Duke University. The captain of the boat had kindly agreed to transport and release a rehabilitated loggerhead turtle out to warmer waters near the Gulf Stream. The turtle, a juvenile loggerhead, was found cold-stunned in mid-December near Cape Lookout Bight in North Carolina. The turtle was transferred to the temporary location of Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium whose permanent location is being refurbished and expanded. At the aquarium facility, the turtle received several weeks of gradually warmer water and feeding that helped bring the loggerhead back up to what appeared to be a normal healthy condition. Just be be sure, we asked Dr. Craig Harms of the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine to give the turtle a check-up.

From left to right in the photo is Stuart May (head of Husbandry at the PKS Aquarium), Wendy Cluse (sea turtle biologist with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission), and Dr. Craig Harms. A simple blood sample revealed that the total solids and packed cell volume values were within the normal range, and we all agreed that it would be better for this turtle to be back out in the ocean sooner rather than later. The next step was to bring the turtle over to the Duke Marine Lab, where Catherine McClellan (PhD student) had arranged for the turtle to be transferred to the Cape Hatteras boat for eventual release into warmer waters near the Gulf Stream. In the end, we had to run out in a smaller boat to transfer the turtle to the Cape Hatteras that was waiting near the Ft. Macon Coast Guard Station. It was a quick fun ride, plus we got to see some dolphins in Taylor's Creek on our return. Some 10 hours later, we heard that the loggerhead had been successfully released in warmer water near the Gulf Stream (see map below). Another success story to which many different collaborators contributed.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is sunrise on the morning of January 01, 2005. Another year, who knows what it will bring? When 2004 started 12 months ago, who would have guessed all that has passed this during the year? Let's hope 2005 is good for all.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 06:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)