Go babies, go!

Our sea turtle nests have been hatching for the past 6 weeks or so and it is always exciting to see early morning evidence of their adventurous nightly escapes from the nests. One of this morning's "evacuations" was particularly impressive. I have always been amazed at the unassuming hole the hatchlings escape from. Hardly more than a gentle dent in the sand. See below with close-up for more clarity. (Don't forget you can click on a photo to enlarge.)

But looking towards the sea you can really witness the tiny tracks (no more than two inches wide) as they head with unerring purpose toward the ocean. These tracks are appropriately called scatter. 

Go babies go!

In a few days the turtle patrol will clean the nest, check for stragglers and count the number of empty eggs shells. I'll bet this nest had well over a hundred of the little guys. Just so you can get an idea of the size of these little creatures — that now have the difficult task of surviving in that big old ocean — here is a photo I took a couple of years ago of a bucket with some rescued hatchings before they are lovingly put in the ocean. They hatched during the day which made them easy prey for seagulls and open for dehydration from the heat of the sun.

However, the scatter on this August 12 morning gave promise of a great future ahead for these particular little turtles. Hope I'm around to see one of them return right here in 20 to 30 years to lay her eggs. Full circle, yes?