ASSATEAGUE -- It was good news, bad news this week as just one of the loggerhead turtle hatchlings rescued from the beach on Assateague in advance of Hurricane Sandy has lived, but the tiny survivor is well on the road to rehabilitation.
On Friday, Oct. 26, just about two days before Hurricane Sandy arrived in the mid-Atlantic area, biological technicians and other staff from the Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP) of the National Aquarium in Baltimore excavated a loggerhead sea turtle nest from the north end of Assateague Island National Seashore in advance of the storm. The loggerhead nest, one of the first viable ever discovered on Assateague, contained three live hatchlings and 160 potentially viable eggs, which had been incubating in the warm sand since the end of July.
The excavation of the nest was planned because the window for viability of the hatchlings and eggs was ready to expire, but the pending arrival of Sandy expedited the project. National Aquarium Stranding Coordinator Jennifer Ditmar said this week the nest was discovered in late July and had been closely monitored throughout the late summer and early fall.
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Thank God "WE" intervened! Had we left the nest alone, more probably would have hatched! The hurricane would probably helped the nest hatch, and high tides hidden the hatch lings from the aerial predators. The following nor'easter would have done the same. Now, we have nothing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Saviors!
Don't forget to rescue the residents of Crisfield also!
ReplyDelete