Turtle Walk Thursday

It seems we are still in the midst of a heat wave and our rainy season, nearly non existent. The temperature was down to 75 last night, but back up to 93 today. It didn't feel quite as hot to me, because the humidity was a little lower at 49%.

This morning was our sixth turtle walk of the 2010 nesting season. We reached the Buttonwood Lane access a while before sunrise. The sun was already making the sky pink and there was enough light to see the beach. There was a breeze blowing to keep us cool. When we walked out near the water, I noticed there was only one person in sight and that one was way over by the lighthouse. I love being at the beach, with only the birds for company. Although this morning, I would have been happy to share it with a sea turtle or two. :)




There were plenty of small shells waiting, but I didn't let myself look down much. I was on a mission to find turtle tracks.




These were the only tracks I found. :(


These weren't the usual beach police tracks. ???








Have a wonderful vacation Amanda and Jenna, wherever you are. :)








Some poor little guy will probably get very thirsty today.








Well....ok, we did find one sea turtle, but it left no tracks, nor did it lay any eggs.








Just as the sun was rising, people came from everywhere.


When we reached the end of our zone, we found out that the tracks we had seen were made by SCCF personel, who had a member of Sanibel's Code Enforcement with them. This drive along the beach today, was to make sure all of the 2010 sea turtle nesting season guidelines are being followed by gulf-front property owners and visitors. I'm sure there has been some concern about there being 11 false crawls and only one nest, so far, on the East end. We all need to do our part to have a successful sea turtle nesting season and uphold Sanibel’s reputation as having one of the darkest and most “turtle friendly” beaches in the state.


On the way back, I picked up a few shells, but I didn't really look at them that closely or spend much time doing it.


Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.










When I got back home, I had an email from the city, saying that traffic was being routed around an area because of a bomb scare. They could have fooled me, I didn't see anyone that looked scared along the way. :)

Traffic was was re-routed for around 3 hours because of a suspicious package, discovered in a parking space behind the Hess gas station, located at the corner of Palm Ridge Road and Tarpon Bay Road. The package had to be checked out by the bomb squad. Thankfully it turned out to be an empty carry-on suitcase. It is reassuring to know that our law enforcement personel are working hard to keep us safe. And, I suppose it was good practice for the bomb squad's robot. :)

As for more serious problems; it still looks as though any signs of oil are at least two hundred miles out from the Southwest Florida coast. The best news today was that wave action in the Panhandle area, well into next week, will move the oil a little more to the NW. For up to date information on the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf, check Florida Division of Emergency Management site.