Del-Nor Wiggins Citizen Support Organization

BABY TURTLE DAY by Anna & Kerry We were jumping waves in the water when we saw something going on in the sand. We found 2 rangers digging a hole and they pulled out a baby turtle!
	Ranger Carolyn let us hold it for a minute. It was very little but very strong trying to climb down from our hands and it had a poky nose.
She told us it got buried in the sand when the other eggs hatched, so they put it in a cooler and will let it out in the water at nighttime.
	SEA TURTLE UPDATE by Carolyn The Delnor-Wiggins’ Rangers are into the nest hatching phase of the sea turtle season. There are 17 nests laid compared to the 18 nests of last year. On Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Ranger Dan Ambrose and Carolyn Shaw were conducting a nest evaluation when a movement caught Dan’s eye. A sea turtle hatchling about 3 inches from the surface was desperately trying to reach the cavity opening. The baby turtle was so exhausted he laid quietly while he was uncovered. Within minutes the shadows of beach goers covered the chamber protecting the moist body of the new born. Dan and Carolyn answered the many questions coming from all directions. The nest hatched out 37 hatchlings but 38 eggs were undeveloped and mushy. The last survivor was released after sun down in hopes of hiding it from predators. Out of four nests hatched this year, one hundred fifteen baby turtles swam to freedom. As of August 4, 2008, Collier County had 675 nests compared to 435 nests last year at this time

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Gold Medal Winner 2005