IOP Nests 4 & 6 Inventoried

With so many nests producing hatchlings now, we sometimes worry about hatchlings who follow the brightest light they see, being disoriented or misoriented by artificial lights onshore. However, with the huge dredge vessel parked two miles offshore pumping sand onto the north end of the IOP now, they have help in going to the ocean when there is no moon. Thanks, Marinex Construction Company!

Nest 4 was laid on May 25 and discovered at Tidewater Port O'Call in Wild Dunes by Bryan Stephens, Allen Owens, Laura Lovins and Holly Baron. There were 140 eggs that were moved to 28th Avenue to save them from the current sand renourishment project. They incubated for 59 days. Today we found that all but six eggs hatched and there were no hatchlings left in the nest. Hatch Success was 92.9%.

Nest 6 was laid on May 31 at Ocean Point and found by Diane Troy and Paige Hauff. It contained 132 eggs. It was also laid in the project area and moved to 28th Ave. Incubation was 57 days. We found only one undeveloped egg and three hatchlings who had died before coming out of the nest. Hatch Success was a fantastic 98.4 %for this one because we also used an egg for the genetics sample. But no live hatchlings to release at either of these nests today.

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