By Marina Giovannelli
Wilmington, NC –
This year's turtle nesting season has been robust, according to conservationists, with nearly thirty more turtle nests than last year on Topsail Island alone. But experts caution this bump in numbers may be a fluke.
Scientists say there is natural variation in nesting patterns, and they want to see a long-term trend before proclaiming turtle populations are making a comeback.
Official nesting season ended in August, but the last hatchlings on Topsail Island crawled out of their nest just two weeks ago. Their journey from nest to ocean was facilitated by Jean Beasley and a troop of volunteers from Beasley's Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.
"We have released 22 hatchlings that we got a boat ride out to Sargassum seaweed where they spend the first few years of their lives, because they would not have made it from our beaches, because the temperature has already dropped," says Beasely.
Beasley and other conservationists try to stop turtle eggs and hatchlings from becoming tasty morsels for ghost crabs and fox.
Conservationists physically shoo away predators, and they sprinkle the nests with Cayenne pepper and urine. The urine makes the fox think they're treading on someone else's turf.
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