We were greeted with some wonderful news on the beach this morning when we saw the Launch Pad Nest had hatched overnight. Last night’s rain made the tracks difficult to see but as you can see from the picture below the indentation where the nest had been was obvious.
This indentation means the nest has hatched
Because the launch pad approach guided the turtle through the obstacles on the beach we believe that all but two of the turtles made it into the gulf last night. The two that didn’t were trapped in the nest and were unable to start their new lives at the same time as their siblings. Those two turtles will be released tonight around 6:30 – 6:45 at Beach Access 10. For more information on the release please check this Bonita Banner article.
With the hatching of the launch pad nest we are down to three remaining nests, two of which should hatch in the next seven to ten days. The final nest should hatch around the middle of October which means the Bonita Beach turtle season has only two or three more weeks to go.
The next two nests scheduled to hatch have had the light shielding black plastic applied which is always a sure sign that hatching is imminent. One of those nests is the “walkway” nest that was laid in the middle of the beach access walkway between the beach and the Seascape Condominiums.
The "walkway" nest is scheduled to hatch in the next week
We’re looking forward to heading back to the beach tonight for the release of the two hatchlings and will post Julie’s photos of the release over the weekend. We hope to see some of you there tonight. If you’re not sure where beach access 10 is located it is just past the Mediterra Beach Club on Hickory Blvd. Here is a link to a Google map.
Thanks for reading,
Steve & Julie
