This morning a team from Sea Turtle Trackers was out on the beach tending to a fresh Loggerhead turtle nest.

The nest was too close to the water's edge and needed to be relocated higher up to give the eggs the best chance of hatching.

This nest is right on the water!  Too close!

There was a careful search for the egg chamber within the nest.  Once located, the eggs were gently removed and temporarily placed in a cooler.

The eggs look like ping-pong balls.

This nest contained 81 eggs.  Bruno Falkenstein, who handled the eggs, told us that four turtle nests had been found that morning, the most nests in one day he had ever found.  He added that so far this year nesting is up 50% from the same time last year, which is an encouraging sign that conservation efforts are having an effect.

The team had prepared another site for the eggs closer to the dunes, to the right in the photo.  The original nest is to the left of the vehicle, close to the water. If left where they were, the eggs would have drowned in the next high tide.

Sea Turtle Trackers Inc. is a non-profit organization.  Volunteers patrol the beaches during nesting season, looking for turtle tracks.  This has to be done at dawn, before any tracks are disturbed.  When they find a nest they stake it out with tape to protect it.  Later in the summer, when the little turtles hatch, they will again patrol every evening, prepared to assist in any way they can.  For more information on this great organization, visit their website at www.seaturtletrackers.org.  Also, check out the blog of another Sea Turtle Tracker member at www.minimeatbeach.blogspot.com.

Something everyone can do to help sea turtles is to keep plastic--especially plastic bags--off the beach and out of the ocean.  Turtles love to eat jellyfish, and they often mistake plastic floating in the ocean for their favorite food.  Since turtles can't regurgitate, once the plastic is swallowed the turtle chokes to death.  Remember to throw your plastic and other rubbish in the garbage bins on the beach!