06.26.10

06.26.10, originally uploaded by colemama.

Yellow is supposedly the best color to attract attention and thus is often used for signage. Signs like this dot our beach during loggerhead sea turtle nesting season - though not nearly in the same quantity as in the past.

The bulky loggerhead females make their way back to the beach where they 'hatched' as babies and laboriously dig a nest for the deposit of approximately 100 ping pong sized eggs. In about two month's time, the hatchlings break out of the sandy hole and instinctively head for the Gulf waters. Their chances of survival into adulthood are slim - estimated at one in a thousand. With so many strikes against them in the natural predatory world, no sense in adding man-made threats! Since both the nesting and the hatching usually occur in the dark of night, I have not witnessed the scene, but have often seen the wide swath of turtle tracks left behind after a nesting and occasionally witnessed the turtle monitors counting hatched eggs and rescuing baby turtles who didn't get out of the nest. Fascinating peek into nature's cycles! 6th Ave N & Gulf of Mexico