I know I just recently did a post about the beach, but I just can’t help writing about it today. Usually on my way to the beach I pray that God will show me a sign of His love while I’m there. I don’t want to miss out! Most of the time I find myself in awe of the ocean’s beauty and really feeling sincere appreciation for it, but today we had one the most amazing experience we’ve ever had at the beach.
This is the mama loggerhead’s tracks from the water onto the beach and back out to the water. She comes up in the night to lay her eggs and then goes back to the sea, never to return again
As I wrote before, the loggerhead sea turtles have nested on the shore. Today we went as a family to play on the beach. While we were walking we saw a few people gathered around this one area of the beach where the turtles come to nest, so we decided to walk over and see what was going on. It was a volunteer who works with the sea turtles and a few other people. Each week some of the volunteers do what they call a “turtle walk” to check out the hatched nests and see if any of the babies may have gotten trapped beneath the egg shells their siblings left behind on their quest for the waters. After looking for a bit, they found two little guys who hadn’t made it out yet! One of them was having trouble and would most likely have died if the volunteer hadn’t helped him find his way to the water…and how oh-so-cute their treck to the water was! Enjoy!
Here is a nest that has been marked for further observation and to protect the eggs. You know when the eggs are beginning to hatch because the sand begins to sink and become concave on the surface.
This nest is partially/almost completely empty (it’s hard to tell). This is where two little turtles were found!
The volunteer “turtle helper” found two little turtles. She thinks the nest may have been attacked and these little guys were lucky to have survived.
The level of cuteness just skyrocketed.
Here is an egg shell.
Their tracks are so teeny tiny!
The girls got to touch its little head…homeschooling at its finest!
Their journey begins…normally they are at risk of being attacked by predators, but with us around they were safe.
The baby turtle cheerleaders
During their walk to the water across the beach is when imprinting occurs. They learn their beach and will later return to nest.
The closer they got to the water, the faster and more aggressively they moved. Almost home!
I just love the tracks they make–so tiny, but they show how far they’ve come. Such a big journey for someone so brand new!
He finally made it! This was so amazing to see! The sibling also made it, but needed a little help because he seemed to be weaker. Once he got a feel for the water though he was a happy little turtle.
