I saw her in the Sargassum making a dash (if marine turtles can dash on land...) for the ocean. Unfortunately I did not get to check if she was tagged (just like a microchip for your pets) since she was already on her way. I marked out the tracks and did my best to find the disturbed area without tramping all over the nesting evidence.
Making contact with Jefe was the hardest part. I think it's time for a new phone seeing as my POS doesn't manage to hold 4 hours of battery. I was running up and down and all over the dunes hoping for 30 seconds of service while I tried to text Jefe (the responder) AND praying that my phone didn't die. I managed to run into a couple coming down the beach and shamelessly begged them to send Jefe a text too :D
I then nervously waited for Jefe to pull up in the new nest collecting Chevy Blazer. As you know, the last time I called in a nest - it was a dud...But I was feeling a little better this time seeing as I actually saw the turtle. That's got to count for something
I waited and waited, even tested out the handling capabilities of the ATV (shhhh don't tell). I had to do something to keep me busy. Otherwise I would have surely marked and remarked the tracks 30 times while trampling over everything. I didn't want that.
Jefe arrived and didn't look too pleased. My "disturbed area" (where the mother has laid her eggs) was not a a disturbed area at all. Which means he set to looking for a needle in a haystack. Or a hundred ping pong sized eggs in an infinite amount of sand. ummm goodluck
He sent me off to continue my patrol (I think next time I should like to help count the eggs :P) and he later drove past and signaled a good ol' thumbs up. Sweeeeet!
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| My first nesting momma heading out to sea |
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| Perfect in (L) and out (R) tracks |
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