More Hatchlings!

I'm a bit behind on getting this up, but I should catch up this week on what has happened since I last posted.

First, we had our last three nests. The middle two hatched on the same day! We worked like crazy to process all 204 baby turtles so they could be released during the 48 hour window. If they are held for much longer, they begin to use up the energy they need to swim out to open water. . Luckily we are getting faster at working with them and we had a third person--Lindsey's mom, Terri, has been here and was a lot of help in getting everything done.

Gene, Lindsey, and I processing the last nest.

The first nest that hatched was invaded by ants and several hatchlings were killed by the insects. This time, we were watching the nesting locations very carefully, so as soon as ants invaded one of the nests, we dug it up. We were just in time. The hatchlings were beginning to emerge from their shells and many of them were already covered in ants. However, because we were so much quicker this time, not one of them died!

This picture shows a hatchling that is just starting to emerge from its egg. It is pretty amazing to have one of these little guys hatch in your hand!

The process goes like this: First, I weigh the hatchlings and record their ID number. Each hatchling has a number that tells us the nest it came from and what number in the nest it was. The weight is used to calculate how much blood it is safe to take from the little guys.

Next, Lindsey uses a set of calipers to measure the width and length of the hatchling's carapace (shell). After measuring, she takes a very small blood sample from the back of the neck. She always made sure to talk to the little guys. I would then take the sample from her and prep it to be frozen. The samples are now in a freezer, waiting for Dr. D to bring them back to the US.

 Each turtle then had its picture taken, so we can go back and look at size or other details later.

 After all the hatchlings had been taken care of, we got to take them back to the beach and release them into the water. Watching the little babies crawl down to the water is both exciting and a little sad. The horrible thing about turtle studies is knowing that most of these little guys won't live long enough to come back to lay eggs again. However, knowing that we helped a few more live to swim away may mean that one or two of these hatchlings will get to live to grow up.

These little guys are very photogenic--but it is hard to get them to sit still enough to snap a picture!