Sullivan's Island Nest #10 & "Wild Nest" 11 July 27

Nest 10 for Sullivan's was laid two lots south of the Station 30 path which is normally out of our patrol area, but Joanne Higgins was able to see the tracks when she came out at Station 29 Street access path. We easily found 118 eggs with two that were broken in the bottom of the clutch. One was used for genetics research to determine the mother's DNA. We relocated the whole clutch to a safe place just north of the Station 26 Street path. It was good to get the two broken eggs out so bacteria would not spread during incubation.

Nest 11 A nest that is undetected when it was laid is classified in our database as a "Wild Nest." This morning we got a report from someone to this website that there were sea turtle eggshells all over the beach two doors south of the Station 25 Street Path. We had not marked a nest there, but one was laid sometime in late May. It hatched out recently and then the remaining contents were dug up by coyotes. This nest was predated, but not until after the hatchlings had left, leaving an emergence crater and the scent of the hatchling loggerheads. There were 154 empty eggshells, 5 unhatched or pipped eggs and 15 dead hatchlings remaining as we did the inventory. So 159 eggs were laid in all, and all but 5 were successful.