I went to the beach really early this morning (5:45 a.m.) and about 15 minutes into my walk noticed one set of turtle tracks. Quite a large rare* green turtle at that. But only one set of tracks... going in to shore, not another set coming back out. Huh? It was much too late for one to still be nesting, but sure enough there was a hole where she had started a nest, it was empty.
Sleuthfully I followed her tracks and there she was... throwing sand everywhere as she dug another nest. It was barely light and I didn't want to scare her so I didn't get too close and didn't use the flash on my camera with resulting bad pictures but wonderful memories for me nonetheless.
One of my usual beach buddies stopped and used my phone to call his wife whose sister works for the turtle patrol, hurrah. Help would be on the way. It was getting late (6:30 a.m.) the hot sun would be harmful to the nesting mom and people would begin to gather and terrify her. I took one photo from behind so she wouldn't see me and if you don't know what you are looking for you may have trouble making out this lovely large lady who covered herself with sand. She was probably 3.5 to 4 feet long and maybe 2.5 feet wide. A big girl for sure. A big thrill for ME.
Alas, I had to leave because of other commitments and left with a heavy heart because I'd have loved to see a successful conclusion to this little drama. As I set out towards home I saw the turtle patrol truck headed that way. She'll be safe now. Good.
* I just went to check how many green turtles we've had this year. Of the 260+ nests, this is only the second green turtle of this season. Just as I expected, this gal is really quite special.
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