Saturday, June 2, 2007

Posted on June 6, 2007 | Filed Under Daily Journal 

Daily Observations

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Observers: Katy and Gale

Observations: We left the Turtle House at 5:15 A.M., Katy monitored North Beach and I monitored South Beach entering at South Beach Entrance at approximately 5:45. Rain associated with Tropical Storm Barry began last night about 20:00 and continued through most of Saturday. Monitoring in the rain was attempted with moderate success.

South Beach was monitored from South Beach Entrance northward toward McQueens Inlet on a flood tide then southward across Flag Inlet to the obstructionist trees.

Four non-nesting crawlways were encountered:

    Crawlway 1: 31.60641 N; 81.14453 W
    Crawlway 2: 31.60287 N; 81.14622 W
    Crawlway 3: 31.59326 N; 81.15090 W
    Crawlway 4: 31.58717 N; 81.15346 W

Batteries in my GPS went down between Crawlways 3 and 4 … on the way back to South Beach Entrance, I replaced the batteries and took the long/lat of Crawlway 4.

Nests 07-004 and 07-005a were observed and found to be intact. Monitoring was terminated due to high tidal conditions and deterioration of weather conditions on a flooded beach.

A Note About the Weather

When the weather deteriorates it makes working extremely difficult and often dangerous. Routine tasks become difficult or impossible, like Note Taking. During rain we take minimal notes (crawlway locations, nest data, etc.) and compose notes from the days work in the laboratory. Flooded beaches are difficult to drive as the sand becomes fluidized and glasses wetted with rain. All equipment is kept in plastic bags (ZipLocs) making its use even more difficult. In a short phrase, our degrees of freedom begin to be attenuated. When this happens we often revert to minimal expectations and focus on safety of the personnel and equipment.

Gale A. Bishop
6/02/07


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