Share the Beach is a volunteer program overseen by the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, and for years whenever we were vacationing in Gulf Shores I'd stop by the refuge office to find out which nests were close to hatching and where they were located. My family and I traipsed down to numerous nests at night, hoping we'd catch some hatchlings emerging. Although we came close on several occasions (volunteers monitoring those nests could hear the tell-tale "waterfall" sounds of the sand falling into the spaces created as the babies moved towards the surface), I'd yet actually seen it happen.
Until July 28, 2008, exactly one year after Rod and I were married. Dad had a contract to write an article on Share the Beach and sea turtles for the Huntsville Times, so he'd gotten the low-down on the "ripe" nests, and we headed to check one out. The attending volunteer said the waterfall sound was pretty loud, and thought the hatchlings would emerge that night... but when? Unbelievably, only minutes later, a small indention appeared in the sand. A short time later a small dark head - was it a head?- appeared. We stared at that dark spot on the sand in the glow of the red light from the filtered flashlight for so long we'd decided our desire for it to be a turtle fooled us into thinking it was a turtle, when suddenly it lifted its head, and there was no doubt. This was the "scout", and that little booger sat there for an eternity before finally deciding to come on out. Once he decided it was time, the rest followed!
This was an extra special nest, too, because it was a Kemp's Ridley nest, rare nesters along the Alabama coast. We spent about four hours out there that night with a team of about 25 volunteers, and saw every single one of those babies to the water. I saw firsthand the effect that light pollution has; there was an incredibly bright street light behind us, luring the hatchlings away from the water in the wrong direction. We had to continually turn them around and redirect them towards the water. I feel certain that without these volunteer teams who shepherd the babies to the water, the mortality would be astronomical, as they would end up in the street due to the allure of beachfront lights or predated. I felt so blessed to be part of this amazing event. Sadly, Dad wasn't to join us in Gulf Shores until the next day, so it was Mom, Michael, Rod and I who had the fortune to experience this... Mr. Writer missed out! However... all was not lost!
AMAZINGLY, the very next night we lucked out AGAIN and watched a Loggerhead nest hatch! This time Dad was in tow... thank goodness. Two species in two nights - WOW. Also, we discovered that as we were herding baby turtles to the water, another mama turtle was laying a new nest just yards away from us! The next morning we saw her signature tracks in the sand. Dad got to patrol with a volunteer on the ATV in the early morning hours, and got to help dig up and move a newly laid nest.
The fun still wasn't over. We were invited to take part in an "excavation" - 48 hours after a nest empties, they dig it up to get a count of the total # of eggs laid, figure out how many didn't hatch, and possibly determine why. Well, to our surprise, once they started digging, they kept finding live baby turtles still in the nest!
Because the belief is that the turtles have to make the journey from nest to ocean to imprint upon their natal grounds, we stood by as the remaining babies made the long journey to the sea. At least they had a trench to help guide their way!
We saw the last hatchling into the water as the sun was beginning to set. It was an experience I'll always treasure!
All sea turtles are listed as endangered or threatened and face numerous threats to their survival.
ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY ROBERTA RESS
