We arrived at the Sanibel Inn on East Gulf Drive this morning just before the sun came up, to make our last Turtle Walk of this 2010 Sea Turtle Nesting Season.
This would be our last morning of the season to check our zone. Our sea turtle nest was due to hatch last week, which would have been 55 days. If it has not hatched by next Wednesday, it will be dug, to count eggs etc. :(
There was a strong breeze blowing the flag, which was a good sign. After getting rain again last night, I was afraid the no-see-ums could be bad this morning. Luckily we had no problem with them.
It looked as though the tide had been over the nest again, and the last high tide came right up to it. You can tell from the brown debris left there.
Not many people or shells in sight.
The water was pretty clear this morning.
It was cool on the beach, which was really nice.
As always, as soon as the sun started to show itself, people started coming from every direction. There wasn't a large number of people though, things on the island are pretty quiet this week.
The tide had been up rather high.
Some water was left, trapped in a low area.
I wandered around looking at shells for a while.
Ah, ha! One little orange scallop was waiting for me. But that, and two little augers would be
all that I carried away.
I found what was left of a red balloon. I took it with me, so some bird, fish or turtle doesn't use it for food. I don't know why it is, but we find a lot of balloons on the beach and a lot of pieces like this have been found in the stomachs of wildlife.
There are many good ideas for celebrating without releasing balloons. This site has some great ideas!
It is sad that the only sea turtle nest
in our zone was washed over.
We'll just have to hope that they fare
better next year.
Looking at the pretty flowers on the way
back to the car, made me feel a little better.
Driving back toward Periwinkle Way on Lindgren,
a little jockey was still lighting the way.
When we reached the intersection of
Periwinkle Way and Causeway Blvd,
there was a constant flow of traffic coming onto
the island, most of which seemed to be people on their way to work. I suppose that shows the importance of the travel industry.
