Threatened Green Sea Turtle Mother in Delaware

One of the highlights working at DNREC this fall, has been following the story of a green sea turtle found on Delaware's Cape Henlopen Beach. Since the nest’s discovery by a Delaware State Parks ranger, who observed the green sea turtle mother laying the eggs near a jetty on Aug. 18, high tides, predators, hurricanes and tropical storms have threatened its survival. He found it around 2-3am, thinking it was someone sleeping on the beach. To his surprise, he found the amazingly large turtle.

It was against all odds that the mother was way far north and a month late dropping her eggs. The nest was first protected from the encroaching tide by moving it to higher ground, and then protected from predators by erecting an enclosure around the site and posting 24 hour guard. A week after the first move, Hurricane Irene deposited a heavy14-inch layer of sand on top of the nest. After being carefully excavated by hand from the effects of Irene, volunteers were faced with the same task after Tropical Storm Lee.

Sea turtles usually lay their eggs on beaches in warmer climates, and the sand temperature was getting too low for them to survive. A clutch of nearly 190 eggs laid was successfully moved on Oct. 5 to a climate-controlled room at the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. The move marks the latest in a series of actions to help the nesting – the first of its kind recorded in Delaware – and ensure the safety of the eggs.

Since the nest was laid, DNREC worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Florida office and with North Carolina Wildlife Resources, who has experience with nesting. A special temperature module sent from North Carolina was buried in the sand at the same depth as the eggs, and helped make the determination that the eggs would have to be removed from the beach to have a chance of hatching. Our staff joined a group of 15 volunteers from MERR (the Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute), and spent more than an hour moving the ping-pong-ball-sized white eggs one by one into specially-prepared 22-quart styrofoam boxes. With a Fish and Wildlife Enforcement escort, the eggs were transported by car – very slowly, so as not to jostle their precious contents – to the nearby University of Delaware campus. In the climate-controlled chamber, under the watchful eyes of MERR volunteers, temperatures were gradually raised by 2 degrees every three hours with the goal of reaching optimal hatching temperature of about 80 degrees.

On Dec. 6, the first three (3) baby green sea turtles hatched and made history as the first ever documented sea turtle nest in Delaware. As the other eggs continued to hatch the lights stayed low and the noise to a minimum. A total of eight (8) hatched. The rest of the eggs were put in an incubator and transported to North Carolina's Duke University Marine Lab to be assessed. The recent and soon-to-be hatchlings will go to the Pine Knolls Aquarium to make sure they are properly hydrated and wait for arrangements to be released into the ocean.

Video of the little guys!http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111208/NEWS08/112080344/8-baby-green-sea-turtles-190-eggs-sent-N-C-?odyssey=tabtopnewstextHome