tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19082918701121116882024-03-13T12:23:49.507-04:00the JUMBY BAY Hawksbill ProjectStories from the beach ... and beyond!Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-7414568531792989822014-06-02T05:00:00.002-04:002014-06-02T05:26:24.675-04:00Let the 2014 Nesting Season Begin!!!It's that time of year again! When critically endangered female hawksbill sea turtles drag themselves up Pasture Bay Beach to deposit eggs and two brave soles lead a vampire-like existence for five months in an attempt to document the phenomenon.
In honor of the official beginning of the season, we're taking it back to basics. Here's a refresher on the history and aim of the project as well as Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166634212145009707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-20893080699702017472012-09-02T19:19:00.000-04:002012-09-24T11:42:10.381-04:00Beatrice
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panose-1:2 Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-82146231798341502012-08-29T15:56:00.002-04:002012-08-29T15:56:58.900-04:00We're officially at halfway through the season, and the numbers are in! So far we've had
54 Nesting turtles
157 Nests laid
12 Neophytes (new turtles to the project) tagged
and approximately 23,500 eggs deposited on the beach!Hatchling season is currently going full tilt, and there are very few nights where we don't see little herds of baby turtles streaming down the beach. Our Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-39214343145788756192012-08-23T12:55:00.001-04:002012-10-10T05:07:08.582-04:00Ororo
It was a wild and crazy night last night here at JBHP. Tropical storm Isaac decided to pay us a visit, and with waves up to 4 feet and wind gusts over 30mph it was looking like it would be a quiet one. Instead, 5 different turtles stopped by to say hello! The first of the night, WH5644, has been named Ororo after this lovely lady: Ororo Munroe
We'll post a season update Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-54183059717569707672012-07-03T01:28:00.001-04:002012-07-03T01:28:37.542-04:00One month in!
At one month in we have seen 27 turtles with 40 nests! 5 girls are new to the nesting population and surprisingly, we have already seen 2 nests hatch - which means nesting activity started in late April!
more updates to come...
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395872817008196613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-68857113874587485902011-12-05T15:24:00.001-04:002011-12-05T15:26:32.059-04:00Extracts from the past: On Pasture Bay Beach
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panose-1:2 Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-64088002079284661012011-11-15T01:39:00.001-04:002011-11-15T02:07:38.678-04:00The season in numbers...
442 records, 237 nests, 178 false crawls, 27 nights with no activity
63 turtles, 14 neophytes
155 eggs per nest, 81% hatch success
29 000 hatchlings produced - some still to come!
One of the crew! ©D.Tilley
Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com1Pasture Beach, Long Island, Antigua and Barbuda17.158505519344473 -61.75415039062517.143333019344475 -61.773891390625 17.173678019344472 -61.734409390625tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-26271669434999598682011-11-08T01:35:00.000-04:002011-11-08T01:35:45.825-04:0010 days to go!
It has taken 43 nights to go from 200 nests to a mighty ... 230.
In this time we have had and extra 7 turtles come to shore. With 10 days to go, we are stuck on 230 nests and 63 turtles. This is the lowest tally in the last 5 years.
We are expecting 5 turtles over the next 10 days, so we may reach a mighty 235 nests by the end of the season!
How ironic is it that on the patrol that Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0Pasture Beach, Antigua17.157849433711181 -61.75415039062517.03650993371118 -61.912078890625 17.279188933711183 -61.596221890625tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-45576509350057011982011-10-30T01:59:00.000-04:002011-11-06T22:27:09.927-04:00On beach plants and lights.
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panose-1:2 Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com1Long Island, Antigua and Barbuda17.156865300912148 -61.75586700439453117.126520300912148 -61.795349004394531 17.187210300912149 -61.716385004394532tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-41860462861145154222011-10-07T19:29:00.000-04:002011-10-07T19:29:31.466-04:00Experts Identify World’s Most Threatened Sea Turtle Populations
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panose-1:Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-9020965137256035002011-09-24T02:02:00.000-04:002011-09-24T07:24:55.952-04:00Ophelia
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@Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-63162638333366338442011-09-20T04:11:00.001-04:002011-09-20T04:11:42.934-04:00200!
200 nests on Pasture beach so far this season, from 56 turtles!
My initial optimism faded long ago and I now doubt that we will reach the 2010 levels. And I think we will be closer to 2005 for total number of turtles.
Where have the neophytes gone? what is going on out there?
Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-89192492740443405212011-09-18T02:09:00.000-04:002011-09-18T02:14:15.472-04:00Mid season update
For
a quarter of a century, the JBHP has been monitoring the nesting population of
hawksbill turtles on Pasture Beach. Following a slight drop in nesting
activity during 2010, we hoped a surge in activity would mark the project’s25th anniversary.
However,
the first half of the 2011 nesting season has followed a similar trend to the
first half of the 2010 season: less activity, with an Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-2067626352512858182011-09-15T19:34:00.000-04:002011-09-15T19:35:29.550-04:00short video
Brought to you by the South Walton Community Council and the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG).
Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-38624379180267441492011-09-09T23:10:00.001-04:002011-09-09T23:10:54.974-04:00Good luck little one!
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{Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-19821417324971143222011-08-01T00:00:00.000-04:002011-08-17T03:50:20.612-04:00July updateThe month of July has seen an extra 13 turtles start their nesting seasons, with 73 extra nests being deposited. This leaves us with a total of 45 turtles and 120 nests so far this season. The first hatchlings have also scurried across the sand and into the ocean. Only 2 extra neophytes have been recorded, but we hold high hopes to see the numbers bolstered by the end of the season. July Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-67096918118782800672011-07-10T05:16:00.008-04:002011-07-10T06:10:48.614-04:00Identifying turtlesNeophytes (turtles assumed to be nesting for the first time) are given tags and a unique drill pattern in the back of their shell. Holes are drilled through the translucent part of the supracaudal scutes, where there is no vascular tissue.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395872817008196613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-67502027421054604552011-07-03T05:52:00.003-04:002011-07-03T05:56:37.418-04:001 month down, 5 to go!Photo (by Dominic Tilley): WE5252 returning to sea at 5:30AM on June 30th, 2011.The Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project’s 25th season has begun rapidly, with 32 turtles identified after only a month of patrolling. Preseason patrols in May revealed 8 nests, bringing the total to 56 nests. Despite changes in beach landscape due to erosion and seaweed buildup in the off-season, turtles have been nesting Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395872817008196613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-78442388680176999322011-07-03T04:45:00.000-04:002011-12-06T01:54:36.758-04:00Turtles in the news
An interesting article on the BBC web site, reported the stranding of tens of turtles of the Queensland coast in Australia. Reading the article, which is accompanied by a beautiful Leatherback picture, we find out that the turtles are likely to be starving and or cold stunned. Yasi, a category 5 Hurricane, struck the Queensland coast in early February 2011, damaging the barrier reef and the Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-10978635558489481372011-06-14T16:00:00.003-04:002011-06-14T16:19:48.753-04:002 weeks in!Although official patrolling began June 1st, early patrols since mid-May revealed 8 pre-season nests. Now at the 2 week mark, we are up to 20 nests and 13 turtles. 3 of these individuals are first-time nesters, who were given flipper tags and a unique drill in the back of their shell for future identification. And 2 of these girls have been nesting for 2 decades: PPN075 was tagged in 1989 and is Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395872817008196613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-50763782753297305532011-05-26T00:15:00.005-04:002011-05-26T01:11:40.213-04:00Artificial light from afarEven on an isolated island with very little artificial light, a nesting beach can still be affected by light pollution, as seen in the above photo (photo by K. Levasseur). Light from mainland Antigua is approximately 2km away, glowing behind the beach.Even the faintest light on a dark night can disorient sea turtles, especially hatchlings, who emerge from the sand typically at night and crawl Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395872817008196613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-31216763614826702542011-05-11T12:53:00.002-04:002011-05-11T13:31:07.821-04:00With 3 weeks left until the 2011 nesting season's official start, and an interesting drop in neophyte number last season, we would like to give our official estimates of this season's turtle numbers: Total NeophytesKate 78 28Jepson 75 25Katrina 76 22Seth 75 21Mark 69 19Dom 81Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395872817008196613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908291870112111688.post-46964511743046572662011-03-20T08:00:00.002-04:002011-12-28T14:09:50.126-04:00Tsunami
Amid the chaos and destruction this story from Midway atoll seems to have gone unnoticed...
Midway, as it's name suggests is about midway across the Pacific Ocean, some 2800 nm from California and 2200 from Japan. This gave the few people staying on Midway approximately 4 hours to prepare and to get to high ground - aka the third floor of Charlie Hotel - to escape the coming wave.
source: US Domhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17829670948247447502noreply@blogger.com0