2007-10-16 11:33:00
HOPE AND SPIRIT: After a couple of days regaining their strength inside a small cooler, Hope and Spirit, the two leatherback sea turtle stragglers from Walton County’s nest No. 12, made their way safely to the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday evening.
Walton County’s fi rst-ever documented leatherback sea turtle nest has hatched, and 23 babies have made their way safely to the Gulf of Mexico.
After 79 days of close watch by the South Walton Turtle Watch Group, Walton County’s sea turtle nest No. 12, located in Seagrove just west of Seagrove Villas, came to life Oct. 6 following the day’s heavy rain.
At 9:15 p.m., Turtle Watch Volunteer Joe Burton checked on the nest and found a tiny flipper coming out of the sand. After making several phone calls, Burton, fellow volunteer Sharon Maxwell, and 23 other spectators crowded around the nest as the baby sea turtles slowly emerged and crawled into the water.
“A truly awesome sight,” Maxwell said.
Nest No. 12 was laid on July 17. The mother’s wide tracks in the sand indicated to volunteers that it was a rare leatherback nest so the South Walton Turtle Watch paid extra close attention to it throughout the duration.
“Franklin County has had about six leatherback nests, but none hatched,” Maxwell said. “So we were really hoping on this one.”
It’s customary to evaluate the sea turtle nest 72 hours after hatching.
Therefore, Lorna Patrick, biologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, came to Seagrove Tuesday evening to guide the evaluation. Numerous spectators, including volunteers from Bay County’s Turtle Watch, who have never seen a leatherback nest, were in attendance.
“We had a great learning crowd there — and learn we did,” Maxwell said.
The bottom of the nest was 26 inches into the sand, and the leatherback eggs, which are soft-shelled, were seven inches in circumference.
“Your typical loggerhead egg is about the size of a pingpong ball. These were billiard balls,” Maxwell said.
Of the 77 eggs initially laid in the nest, 21 sea turtles escaped alive to the Gulf of Mexico.
Of the remaining sea turtle eggs, 30 had no obvious embryos, 17 had just the start of embryos and seven were almost fully formed yet lifeless.
“That’s a very good survival rate for a leatherback,” Maxwell said. “We were very pleased.”
Two straggling turtles were found alive in the nest, which the group named Hope and Spirit.
After a couple of days regaining their strength inside a small cooler with damp sand, they were released at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Four Mile Village, where red tide is thought not to be a problem, Maxwell said.
“I was thinking I would have to put Hope into the water, but no,” Maxwell said. “As time went by, she gained her strength. We sat and watched, and they moved very slowly and it took quite a while, but they did move.”
Both turtles crawled safely through the sand and swam away into the water.
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