Hatchlings!

This week was a mixture of crazy busy and boredom. Amy and her sisters left in a flurry of packing and goodbyes on Tuesday morning. That same morning (and nearly simultaneously) we had our first nest emerge! Amy is still sad because she missed it by just a few hours.

When Lindsey got the call that there were hatchlings, she and I headed to the beach. We ended up digging up the nest there and then, because it was infested with ants. Sadly, the ants had already killed several hatchlings that were still buried. However, we did have a mess of cute, wiggling baby turtles!

Having been up all night for the past couple of nights watching the nest, Lindsey and I were both exhausted. It was decided then, that the hatchlings would be held overnight, we would process them, and they would be released the evening of the next day.

Getting everything set up.

Overall, the data taking went smoothly. For Lindsey's project we weighed each hatchling, measured the length and width of its upper carapace, and took a very small blood sample. This sample will allow Lindsey to figure out what gender each hatchling is.

Turtles don't have a gender determining chromosome like you or I. Instead of being XY or XX, their sex is determined by the temperature that the nest is incubated at. The top of the nest will be slightly warmer because of the heat of the sun and so the turtles that hatch out of eggs from the top of the nest will be female. The lower eggs are colder and will then develop into male turtles. Lindsey has placed data loggers in each nest that will allow us to measure these temperatures. When she compares this with the number of males and females from the nest, she can then develop a temperature profile that will allow us to predict the gender ratios for a nest, without needing to do the extra work with blood samples.

Lindsey was slightly afraid that this little guy would bite her. He wouldn't keep his mouth shut!

Five more to go!

It took us about six hours of lab work to process the fifty-one hatchlings, but we enjoyed every minute! Unfortunately, neither Lindsey or I got to go out and release them because we were still processing the blood samples. Next time I will have pictures!

We now have about a week off before our second nest emerges. I'm using it to get caught up on sleep and enjoy a little more of this beautiful island I get to live on!