Turtle Walk Thursday

The sky was a pretty pink, as we began our walk from Sanibel Algiers Beach at Gulfside City Park, located on Algiers .

The temperature was around 80 and pleasant when we started and was pretty hot and humid on the return walk.

We were also greeted by the full moon.

Someone used this nest for a place to

throw their trash. :(

A long stemmed rose had washed up with the tide.

The color of the rising sun looked beautiful.

A wreath wrapped with wire, artificial greenery and plastic white flowers.  It would come apart in small enough pieces for sea turtles or other wildlife to eat, thinking it was food.

I wonder if the wreath and roses were a part of a ceremony of some sort.

I picked it up on the way back and it got really heavy because it was soaked with water and was packed full of sand.

We found at least a dozen roses scattered along the water.

The Railroad Vines were full of blooms at

 Pointe Santo this morning.

This little bird had a fishing line hanging from it's beak.  It looked like a leader with a weight on it.  We couldn't get close enough to see, but I don't think the line was wrapped around it's beak, so hopefully the hook will rust and it will come out before it does more harm to the bird.  There was no way we could catch it for treatment because it could still fly.

A cute little Keyhole limpet was just lying there waiting for me. :)

No new nests in our zone today,

but we did find one false crawl.  You can see from the tracks, the turtle came up onto the beach, then turned and went back into the water without digging a nest.

 A turtle may false crawl for a number of reasons, some of which include:

Being disturbed by noise, lights or activity on the beach. 

She could encounter an obstacle while crawling up the beach.

She could find roots, rocks or some debris when she starts to dig a nest.
The sand might not have the right consistency or moisture.

Her egg chamber could collapse.

Sometimes there could be tracks and a turtle actually digs her egg chamber and then decides not to lay her eggs.  If she has actually laid her eggs, there is usually a mound of sand where she has used her flippers to cover the nest with sand.

We reported the false crawl to our Permittee because each false crawl and nest has to be checked and then documented.

Another 'Turtle Walk' ended as the day was beginning.

After our walk we went off island to Publix for a few groceries.

We noticed how calm the water was.