As the days get warmer, so too does the ocean water temperatures. In turn, that means that some of the sea turtles that have been in rehabilitation over the winter months may be fit for release off the beach in the near future. At the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Topsail Beach, NC, more than a dozen rescued turtles are on the list of potential releases. Each turtle has to be carefully evaluated for general health and specific criteria have to be met prior to release. Last week, we were in Topsail along with wildlife veterinarian Dr. Greg Lewbart, some other researchers from the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, and several hospital volunteers. Each turtle was weighed, measured and had blood drawn for laboratory analysis (see above photo). After this, Wendy and I had the task of measuring and giving each turtle flipper and PIT tags. It seems like each time I do this with Wendy, she gets faster and faster. When I downloaded my photos, I realized that I finally had photographic proof that Wendy moves almost at the speed of light:

The sampling, measuring and tagging over, now all that remains is to wait for the results to see which turtles make the list for release in a few weeks. We hope it will be as many as possible, not only so the turtles can get back to the wild but also to free up some room for the next anticipated group of injured turtles that are found each summer in NC.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a few weeks ago to check out a beach dune reconstruction project. The work was associated with road work on Highway 12, which runs right along the coast from Ocracoke Island to Corolla in the Outerbanks. Parts of the highway had been washed out from storms and/or hurricanes over the past year or so. Obviously, if the road was washed out, then the homes between the road and the ocean must also be under threat. In one part of the beach, I saw this beach house (above) standing alone in the sand. In the past, I suspect that there were other houses on either side of it, but right now it is the only one still standing. With the power of the ocean in that area, I wonder how long it will last? I will be back up that way later on in the summer and fall, and will check on its status then

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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!

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I visited the NMFS-Beaufort lab a few days back, I found Wendy and Lisa staring intently at a computer monitor. What was it that they were looking at? Some fantastic histology of a leatherback finger bone:

This research on skeletochronology is pretty exciting, and it is nice to know that samples that we have collected are contributing to an increase in sea turtle knowledge.

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In early summer of 2001, following the tagging patrol from 2am to 6am on Awala-Yalimapo beach, Johan and I were sitting down to some coffee and our usual banter about who is better at badminton. Before we were finished, a phone call to the field station revealed that a female leatherback was crawling the wrong way, towards some village houses that had a few lights shining. We bicycled over and found the leatherback sitting in low-lying vegetation, some 100 meters from the dune line. In my previous experiences with misoriented turtles (none of them leatherbacks), I found that a gently tug or two of a flipper induced the turtle to move the other way. Feeling smug, I started to gently tug on the turtle's right flipper, so she would turn left towards the ocean. Nothing happened. I tugged some more. Still nothing. Then she moved to the right, contrary to my expectations. Determined to see it through, I continued to work in this manner although the turtle never turned in the correct direction, or she would turn too far. After about 15 minutes, Johan asked if he could try something. Carefully, he stood close to the turtle's head so its vision on one side was blocked. Sure enough, she started to turn in the direction we wanted. Slowly, by changing his position, Johan was able to get the turtle in the right direction. However, the sun was getting higher in the sky and the turtle was getting more tired, but the beach remained far away. We tried a new strategy: with the help of several tourists who were camping nearby, we moved the turtle onto a tarp and dragged it onto the beach. She made a few turns in the sand and started what looked to be like the initial stages of nesting. Both Johan and I were in need of more coffee, so we left without watching what happened next. We never heard any other news, so we assumed that she eventually went back to the sea.

I had completely forgotten about is experience until a few weeks ago when Gerard Collomb sent me this photo by email. He was there doing his own research in Yalimapo when he heard the commotion outside of the house where he was staying, and he apparently decided to take a few photos. I recently had the pleasure of seeing Gerard and Johan in Paris last April when I was there for a leatherback meeting. Perhaps we will all meet again someday in Awala Yalimapo....

Posted by Matthew Godfrey at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)