2019 Turtle Hunt

Up and down the East Coast, the numbers of turtle nests in 2019 have broken records.  We had two nests on either side of the steps from the beach beach house down to the shore.  We eagerly awaited the boil, some of us (not me) even sitting out until 2 am one night in the hopes that it would happen.  Alas, we saw one brave turtle rise up and make a run for the sea and swim off into what I hope is a long and prosperous life.  We saw another one emerge in the middle of the day and only make it half way down the trench before it succumbed to the heat and had to be rescued by the sea turtle people.  I have seen a nest boil before and it is something to behold-everyone should try to see it at least once.  Alas, no luck this time around but we will surely try again next year!

from the steps, you can see right where the nests were and the path that the turtle people built to make it easier for the babies to find their way to the water... and yes, that's all our people down at water's edge just enjoying the beach!

turtle watch is on!

 this little guy tried to make it in the hot sun...it was too much for him...they usually wait until the sun goes down and the sand cools off...which is why most "boils" happen in the middle of the night.  As a frame of reference, you can see the turtle on the other side of Billy...they are really quite tiny.  I'm trying to think of something their size...a silver dollar is slightly too small, but if you cut a baseball in half that would be too big...something in between those two would be about right.  Normally you can't get close to them because they come out at night and no lights or flash photography are allowed on the beach because is distracts the turtles and they can't figure out which way to go to the water...we were able to get close to and take pictures of this guys because he broke the rules and came out during the day.

 we tried to make his life a little easier by shading him on his journey but he had to be rescued by the turtle people anyway...he could not make it through the hot sand all the way to the water.