Nest #2 for Isle of Palms

This morning Karen Thompson and Kathy Jahn discovered loggerhead tracks leading to a new nest near the 5A Access Path on the IOP. Penny H. Smith and her mother, Juniper, also on patrol closer to Breach Inlet and her 6 day old baby girl Zelda strapped to her chest. That is a dedicated Turtle Team member for sure! Penny will soon begin her medical residency in Dermatology as well. The eggs and body pit were near an old small escarpment but above the spring tide line, so they were left to incubate where laid. This section will undergo renourishment work, but not until after this nest produces hatchlings in July. These tracks were mostly 24" between rear flipper claw marks, making it a slightly larger female loggerhead than our first two nests.

And meanwhile Sheri Scarlett found a dead armadillo in the wrack line of spartina sticks near the 34A Access Path on the IOP. We are concerned because these strange animals that are known to dig up and destroy sea turtle nests are spreading their range northward and causing problems for some beaches south of here.