Season 2 Underway
Season two of my thesis project has officially started! Waded through some morning training with the Georgia DNR and I was dropped off on Ossabaw on the afternoon of May 3rd. After hauling all of my gear to the turtle house, I packed a field bag and headed out to the beaches.
I haven't been out to the beaches since last September (except for a quick day in December to survey dune rebuilding). I still don't have access to all of the beaches because we haven't put the kayaks and bikes on beaches. I'm currently able to monitor a little over 12 km (out of ~17 km). I think after this morning's survey that Hurricane Irma changed the island so that we only have 4 beaches (Middle Middle Beach got reabsorbed by South Middle Beach).
It's still a little cool in the mornings (60 F in an open vehicle at 20 mph is rough). I can get away with 3 layers to stay warm on the 45 minute drive to North Beach.
The first afternoon I was out patrolling beaches, I came across a dead stranded turtle. It had been there awhile--there was only a little dried skin holding the skull to the rest of the body. It looks like a juvenile loggerhead based on skull fissures and the arrangement of the carapace (back) bones. The small bone in the 3rd picture is the entoplastron bone which can be used to help identify species.
Although this isn't the turtle I was hoping for, documenting strandings like this is just as important as documenting nesting. These stranding data help us identify the demographics of sea turtles that are in our waters. Depending on how fresh the turtle is, we can determine relative age, sex, diet, cause of death, etc.
We don't have any nests on the island yet. There are no documented nests in the entire state, but I've had several beach-goers tell me that they've seen adults out in the waters around their boats. Hopefully we'll get a nest tomorrow or the next day.
There are plenty of other cool things out here while we're waiting on turtles to nest. The horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) molt several times in their life as they grow. Below is a molt of a crab that will hopefully grow up to be about the size of a dinner plate.
Ossabaw is a stunning place. I forgot that many of the wetlands on the island are seasonal. These wetlands are areas that fill up with fresh water over the winter. The water will remain there until it dries up in the summer.
While the wetlands are actually wet, they provide perfect habitat for alligators, snakes, raccoons, and many species of frogs that lay their eggs around the area. Soon it'll be scorching hot on the island and these areas will become just "damplands" until the cycle begins again next winter.
Until next time, we hope for turtles.
