Patrol on hand for turtles'
perilous trip
Volunteers prepared to assist hatchlings on voyage to the sea
By LORY POUNDER
lory.pounder@staugustinerecord.com
They were on a mission to find the ocean.
One hundred and thirty escaped to the destination, but three were left
behind. They were stuck under the sand and in desperate need of some
direction.
"Aren't they precious?" said Christy Furr on Sunday night as she stared
down at the three loggerhead sea turtle babies bumping into the side of
the blue bucket.
This was the second out of 10 nests in St. Augustine Beach to hatch.
More than 200 babies have made it to the water this year.
Evelyn Stauber, who coordinates the volunteers and has been on patrol
for 13 years, drives St. Augustine Beach on weekends. On Saturday morning,
she noticed a perfectly round dish-sized hole and knew some turtles must
have crawled to the ocean the night before.
Stauber, Furr and Jackie Ard gathered around the hole pulling out
golf-ball sized cracked eggs. The words "Turtle Patrol" could be read
across the back of their T-shirts as they reached whole arms into the
sand.
With huge smiles, the volunteers answered questions from about 10
people who gathered to watch.
They found five unfertilized eggs, one dead turtle, the three left
behind and 133 crushed eggs.
It is not uncommon to find a few turtles who couldn't make it out,
Stauber said.
Furr took the tiny turtles past the tire tracks and seaweed to make the
trip easier. She said that because of the tracks, some turtles will crawl
a mile north or south instead of to the water.
"No ruts. No donuts and please don't do firecrackers at night," Furr
advised beach-goers.
Just as the turtles began to make their way, a truck driving on the
beach came toward the group. Stauber yelled for him to turn off his
lights.
She took charge of the situation to make sure her babies started life
out right.
Waiting until dusk arrives to release the babies is a necessity so
there was no added peril to their journey, Stauber said.
Some of the group members snapped photos.
"Easy on the flashes now," she said, looking out for the little ones.
The turtles use the light bouncing off the ocean to find their way, she
said. Lights from homes, cars or even cameras could throw them off.
Babies bumped into each other as they pushed toward the water. Once
they hit the ocean, they were washed back a couple times by small, rolling
waves.
A few of the people who gathered for the first time used the words
"incredible" and "amazing" to describe the experience. Turtle Patrol
volunteers stood by like proud parents.
This nest was found June 2 about a half mile north of Crescent Beach.
It was in Furr's territory. She patrols the beach from the Matanzas Inlet
to State Road 206 during the week.
Furr became a volunteer about 12 years ago. At the time she was
concerned about the environment, but didn't know anything about turtles.
Now, she is an expert.
She remembered a year that she spotted turtles crawling out of a nest
during the day. They usually come out at nighttime and use the moonlight
to get to the water, she said.
This group would have faced added dangers trying to make the journey
during the day, so Furr went home and got a bucket to stick on the front
of her bicycle.
She carried about 50 turtles home and set them up in her bathtub until
nightfall.
"They were active all day long," Furr said laughing.
"Click, click, click was heard from the bathtub."
About a week ago, Furr spotted two new nests in her area.
Generally, the middle of August is the latest turtles will nest,
Stauber said.
The first nest of the year was spotted near Dondanville Road in May. It
hatched about a week ago. However, if Turtle Patrol had not come to dig
the hole, all 110 babies would have died.
The eggs were past the due date so a dig was scheduled to see what they
would find. It was mainly for informational purposes, Stauber said. The
incubation period is usually between 55 and 65 days, but it can vary
depending on conditions.
This was day 70.
"The sand sets up like concrete after it gets so wet," Stauber said.
Surprisingly, buried about two feet below the surface were the little
ones.
And although these babies were rescued from the sand, it is possible
that none of them will make it to adulthood. They have to get past fish
and birds to make it to Gulf Stream to live in the seaweed.
"Only one in 1,000 will make it to adults," Stauber said.
This year there are twice as many nests as last year, and all are south
of Sea Colony because of the beach renourishment project.
They come in cycles, Stauber said. She predicted this is an up cycle
and there will be even more nests nest year.
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