Hopefully you all read the previous posting about my attending a turtle nest excavation. If you didn't, go and read it and then come back. I will continue this post on the next page, click on "read more"
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Sea Turtle Hatchlings!
Hi Everyone!
Yesterday was a big day for me! I got to attend a Sea Turtle nest evacuation with the Resource Rangers. The Resource Rangers are the rangers who monitor wildlife here in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The nest that we visited had already had 70+ sea turtle hatchlings emerge and go to the sea 3 days before.
What your seeing in this picture is the ranger beginning to dig out the turtle nest. He knew where to dig because of that white pole sticking out of the ground and also because when this nest was located they buried a GPS device to help them find the nest.
Yesterday was a big day for me! I got to attend a Sea Turtle nest evacuation with the Resource Rangers. The Resource Rangers are the rangers who monitor wildlife here in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The nest that we visited had already had 70+ sea turtle hatchlings emerge and go to the sea 3 days before.
What your seeing in this picture is the ranger beginning to dig out the turtle nest. He knew where to dig because of that white pole sticking out of the ground and also because when this nest was located they buried a GPS device to help them find the nest.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Lighthouse climb total: 12
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sea turtles continued
Female sea turtles lay their eggs during the months of May to November. A female sea turtle may make 2-3 nests in a nesting season. Sea turtles come back to the beach where they themselves hatched to lay their own eggs. A female sea turtle will come out of the ocean at night, make her way slowly up the beach to above the high tide line. Then she will use her back flippers to dig a hole. She will deposit 100-150 egg in the hole, cover it up with her flippers and make her way back to the ocean. She will not care for the nest or the baby sea turtles, they are on their own from here on out. It takes about 2 months for the eggs to hatch.
Every morning here on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, our resource rangers go on something called "turtle patrol." They drive on the beach in a 4-wheel drive vehicle, looking for signs that a turtle has come on to the beach and made a nest. What they will see is very distinctive tracks in the sand that show a turtle has been there. Once they verify that there is a nest, they rope off the nest area, and mark it with signs to keep people away. They even take the GPS coordinates of the nest so that they could locate it if a big wave washes the signs away.
Since the rangers know when the nests on Hatteras were laid, they can guess when the baby sea turtles will hatch. In order to help the baby sea turtles make their way safely to the ocean after hatching, the rangers put a black tarp all around the nest and heading down to the beach. I have a picture of a nest just down the beach from me that is due to hatch any day:
One reason the tarp is black is that baby sea turtles are attracted to light, whether it be the light of the moon shining on the surface of the ocean, or the light from the rising sun. The black blocks the light and funnels the sea turtles in the right direction. What is sad is that in some places where the rangers do not do this for the baby sea turtles, they will sometimes head the wrong way, away from the ocean and towards the lights from people's beach houses! When this happens the baby sea turtles do not make it to the sea and die.
Every morning here on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, our resource rangers go on something called "turtle patrol." They drive on the beach in a 4-wheel drive vehicle, looking for signs that a turtle has come on to the beach and made a nest. What they will see is very distinctive tracks in the sand that show a turtle has been there. Once they verify that there is a nest, they rope off the nest area, and mark it with signs to keep people away. They even take the GPS coordinates of the nest so that they could locate it if a big wave washes the signs away.
Since the rangers know when the nests on Hatteras were laid, they can guess when the baby sea turtles will hatch. In order to help the baby sea turtles make their way safely to the ocean after hatching, the rangers put a black tarp all around the nest and heading down to the beach. I have a picture of a nest just down the beach from me that is due to hatch any day:
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sea Turtles
I am going to talk, for the next few days, about sea turtles. Sea turtles differ from land turtles in a few ways. Land turtles have legs and move slowly on land. Sea turtles' legs have modified into flippers, which they can use for quick bursts of speed swimming or diving deep in the ocean. Land turtles can retract their head and limbs into their shell when they need protection. A sea turtle cannot retract its head or legs into its shell, it must escape danger by swimming quickly, by diving deep in the ocean, or by hiding among rocks at the bottom of the ocean and using its shell as a sort of shield.
Female sea turtles tend to return to the same area where they hatched to lay their own eggs. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore currently has 104 sea turtle nests on its beaches: 7 Green Turtle nests and 97 Loggerhead turtle nests. Tomorrow, I will talk some more about turtle nesting.
Total number of times I climbed the lighthouse: 10
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Lighthouse climb total: 8
Yes, there are deer on Hatteras Island! I took this picture when I drove down to the point of Hatteras Island today. The deer here are not as big as Ohio deer, they are much thinner also. I believe this is due to the fact that there isn't as much grass on the island, and the grass that there is isn't as green and thick as grass in Ohio. There are also raccoons -- unfortunately the raccoons like to eat sea turtle eggs.
I also see lizards, tree frogs, snakes, and some beautiful black and yellow butterflies. From the Sound to the Ocean, there are so many different types of creatures on the Outer Banks!
Yes, there are deer on Hatteras Island! I took this picture when I drove down to the point of Hatteras Island today. The deer here are not as big as Ohio deer, they are much thinner also. I believe this is due to the fact that there isn't as much grass on the island, and the grass that there is isn't as green and thick as grass in Ohio. There are also raccoons -- unfortunately the raccoons like to eat sea turtle eggs.
I also see lizards, tree frogs, snakes, and some beautiful black and yellow butterflies. From the Sound to the Ocean, there are so many different types of creatures on the Outer Banks!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Lighthouse climb total: 7
Hi everyone! I am working on my program on sea turtles. I will share interesting facts about sea turtles with you. For example, did you know that once a male sea turtle baby enters the sea after hatching, it will never again leave the sea? Male sea turtles live their whole lives in the sea. Female sea turtles will return to shore to lay their eggs.
I also found an interesting website you may want to check out. You can become a web ranger! This website allow you to investigate lots of different areas of our country's national parks. For example, you can help a sea turtle through a maze, learn about rip currents (very important if you are swimming in the ocean or even Lake Erie), or even investigate the lives of famous Americans like Abraham LIncoln.
Here's the link and I will add it to the blog:
http://www.webrangers.us/
Hi everyone! I am working on my program on sea turtles. I will share interesting facts about sea turtles with you. For example, did you know that once a male sea turtle baby enters the sea after hatching, it will never again leave the sea? Male sea turtles live their whole lives in the sea. Female sea turtles will return to shore to lay their eggs.
I also found an interesting website you may want to check out. You can become a web ranger! This website allow you to investigate lots of different areas of our country's national parks. For example, you can help a sea turtle through a maze, learn about rip currents (very important if you are swimming in the ocean or even Lake Erie), or even investigate the lives of famous Americans like Abraham LIncoln.
Here's the link and I will add it to the blog:
http://www.webrangers.us/
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Lighthouse climb total: 6
Hi Everyone!
Sorry I haven't blogged for a few days. Some of you may already know that my family is down here vacationing for a week, so I have been spending my evenings with them (instead of blogging.) I am now on my own at the lighthouse, I am no longer following a trainer around. Yesterday was very busy at the lighthouse. I worked at the base of the lighthouse, where you give a short safety talk to people before they climb the lighthouse and then take their tickets and send them up. Since my family came over to visit me while I was working at the base of the lighthouse, my husband took some pictures of me "in action." I will share one with you.
Hi Everyone!
Sorry I haven't blogged for a few days. Some of you may already know that my family is down here vacationing for a week, so I have been spending my evenings with them (instead of blogging.) I am now on my own at the lighthouse, I am no longer following a trainer around. Yesterday was very busy at the lighthouse. I worked at the base of the lighthouse, where you give a short safety talk to people before they climb the lighthouse and then take their tickets and send them up. Since my family came over to visit me while I was working at the base of the lighthouse, my husband took some pictures of me "in action." I will share one with you.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Seining in the Sound
Hi!
Today I joined two other rangers: Jennifer and Jon, to give a program called Seining in the Sound. I did not know what seining was until I tried it. Two people have a net that has weight on the bottom, they each hold an end of the net and kind of drag it along the bottom of the sound. Then, you tip the net up to see what you "caught."
Today I joined two other rangers: Jennifer and Jon, to give a program called Seining in the Sound. I did not know what seining was until I tried it. Two people have a net that has weight on the bottom, they each hold an end of the net and kind of drag it along the bottom of the sound. Then, you tip the net up to see what you "caught."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)