A TURTLE NIGHT

A glorious night on the beach last night!

Along the southeastern coast we are in the hatching part of the sea turtle nesting season. Last night I went out to the beach on Isle of Palms, SC with my fellow Island Turtle Team members. Sitting on the sand under a foggy moon, being bitten by vicious beach ants, we watched as a loggerhead nest slowly rose to a boil.  When that happens, the loggerhead hatchlings, already free from their eggs, begin digging as a group and rise together like an elevator from 20" down.  At the top they rest for awhile. 
From the top we see a concave circle in the sand.

Over the course of an hour, or 2 or 3, it's like watching a birth.  Little bumps appear on top of the sand. Like contractions, the circle heaves and slowly the bumps get larger and I can see dark tips of heads and flippers emerge as the group below pushes upward.  We watch expectantly.  Suddenly something triggers the group that it's time to go!  With a great heave the 3 inch hatchlings begin scrambling out, climbing over each other, flippers waving, hatchlings tumbling down the slope, a hundred or more of them, in a mad dash for the sea.  It looks like a pot boiling over, which is how it got the name "a boil" When this happens, the turtles are healthy and vivacious and as a group they have a better chance at survival, fanning out across the beach, following the rules of predator glut.

It wasn't the best of conditions on the beach for them. The moon wasn't bright, and sadly-- and frustratingly-- some homeowner (who should have known better) left a bright light burning on her outside porch. It was a hassle getting all the hatchlings to the sea without them turning toward the bright light --and certain death. Plus, the sea was still far out and these hatchlings faced a long journey across two galleys to reach home. 

But make it they did.  My pals on the team, Mary and Jo, and Christi from the SC Aquarium and her sweet daughter Lillian were there to guide them to the water.  The hatchlings were valiant as the waves tumbled them back, further up the shore. Over and over they righted themselves and headed straight back in, following their ancient instinct to swim.

They'll swim for three days in a frenzy, non stop, to reach the vast sargassum floats in the Gulf that will protect them from predators as they get bigger. It is estimated that only 1 in 1000 of them will reach adulthood. Of those survivors, only the females will return to our area beaches some thirty years later to nest and continue the cycle of life.
A long journey ahead, little turtles.  God speed.  I thank God I was there last night to witness the small miracle of nature.  And I pray that I will be here --with my friends on the turtle team--to welcome the mama turtles home.


** Pix by Barbara Bergwerf from our picture book: TURTLE SUMMER. Published by Arbordale Publishing

MAM and Mary Pringle

A boil!

                                                       Fanning out.

Hatchling makes it to the sea.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE MONARCHS GONE?

It's monarch migration season!  Have you spotted any traveling through your area?

To help celebrate the phenomenon of this annual occurrence is the release of my second children's book, A BUTTERFLY CALLED HOPE.  Kids and adults alike will enjoy this photographic journey with a little girl named Hope who discovers a caterpillar in her garden and witnesses the miracle of metamorphosis!

To mark this special occasion, I've asked my friend and monarch mentor, Linda Love, to write today's blog entry.  We worked together on this book, along with my friend and photographer Barbara Bergwerf.  Linda is better known as "Nana Butterfly," and her words are informative and encouraging.  Read on to see how all of us can help sustain the monarch migration phenomenon.  And I hope you'll add A BUTTERFLY CALLED HOPE to your child's book collection.  

Written by:  Linda Love

When Mary Alice Monroe, Barbara Bergwerf and myself started putting together the book A BUTTERFLY CALLED HOPE, all we had to do is get in the car and go to several different local butterfly gardens.  The monarchs were there and all we had to do is put Hope, my granddaughter and main character in the children’s book, in the center of the garden and Barbara just started shooting away. 

But today that situation has changed.  Everywhere I go to give my butterfly presentations I get the same question, “Where are all the monarchs?”  All over the United States nature lovers are trying to find the Monarch butterflies, eggs and caterpillars. 

In October citizen scientists to the north are waiting every day for the Monarch Migration to start their trip to Mexico.  Migration is inherently risky. Monarchs must find habitat to meet their needs every day of the journey. Like links in a chain, the loss of one habitat component could break the monarch's annual cycle.  There has been a downward trend over the past decade but the numbers traveling south now are drastically reduced.

There are many reasons for the population decline.  First and foremost are the weather extremes we have had over the past year.  Drought and excessive heat resulted in low reproduction. Next came the excessively cold spring we had in early 2013.  The generation that over wintered in Mexico was slow to start the migration and had a hard time finding milkweed in their travel North through Texas and Kansas.

Many blame the use of herbicides for wiping out their natural habitat, namely milkweed.  As you can see, many things can be to blame but the best thing we can do is start the ball rolling in our own backyards.


We can’t change a lot of these factors, but first and foremost, we need to plant milkweed and lots of nectar plants that will attract butterflies to your backyard.  We should never use pesticides if we want butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to come.    One very positive thing to do is get our new book, A BUTTERFLY CALLED HOPE, and follow the lead of little Hope and how she learned to cultivate a caterpillar and then release it to the Heavens. 

The number one thing we can do to preserve butterflies and other animals is to teach the next generation how to protect our environment.  If you start with children we can be sure that they will inherit and preserve our wonderful earth and inhabitants.

Click here to learn more about or purchase your copy of A BUTTERFLY CALLED HOPE
Click here to follow Linda Love "Nana Butterfly" on Facebook.  

ANOTHER TURTLE SUMMER

Whew! The first crush of beach visitors came to the Isle of Palms/Sullivan’s Island over this holiday weekend. Getting on and off the islands was like a parking lot! The number of tourists coming to beach is increasing. This was just the first wave from now through the summer season.

The holiday weekend of tourists had me thinking about another group of beach visitors—our sea turtles. Nesting season is underway. There have been at least five nests since the first one was spotted on May 22. When the hatching begins in July, it’s just the beginning of the amazing cycle of life for this endangered species.

Keeping in mind how many more people are on the beach, we need your help! Here’s how you can help make the beach safe (and more fun) for turtles and tourists both!

1. Only leave your footprints on the beach. Whatever you take to the beach—chairs, plastic wrappers, tents, etc.--make sure it leaves with you. Sea turtles like to eat jellyfish and can confuse plastic bags for food. A lethal mistake.

2. Fill in holes in the sand. If you dig a large hole, please smooth it out before you leave. Why bother? These pits can be a hazard to a mother turtle or hatchlings AND to someone walking the beach. Ouch!

3. Lights out for turtles! Why do we say this? Sea turtles find their way to the ocean by heading toward the brightest light. In nature, it is the moon over the water. But it can’t compete with man-made lights. If you’re taking an evening stroll along the beach, don’t use flashlights. Turn off the porch lights at the beach house or hotel balcony, and pull the window shades facing the beach down as well. Dark skies are beautiful!

4. Keep off the dunes! These natural barriers are fragile and the plant life helps keep the sand dunes in place. And turtles nest high in the dunes. Please stick to the beach trails and boardwalks—dogs, too!

These are easy tips for all of us, adults and kids, to be good sea turtle stewards. If you want to learn more about the sea turtle season, pick up a copy of TURTLE SUMMER. It’s a fun and informative children’s book with photographs for the little ones and all of us big kids too!