Daily Observations for Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Posted on May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Daily Journal
Observers: Katy and Gale
Observations: We left the Turtle House at 5:30 A.M., Katy monitored North Beach and I monitored South Beach entering at South Beach Entrance at approximately 6:35. North Beach was monitored by running Seaside Spit, then driving the north end of North Beach by Katy. One crawlway was encountered on North Beach by Katy [31.68216 N, 81.13624 W], but the turtle did not nest and left a non-nesting crawl extending above high tide level.
South Beach was monitored from South Beach Entrance southward to a backbeach tree blockage at Flag Lagoon as high tide was approaching (6.3 ft; 7:10 AM). I turned back northward toward McQueens Inlet and monitored northward. A series of deep hog rootings on the beach were encountered at [31.59386 N; 81.15058 W] between Flag Inlet and South Beach Entrance. These were photographed and documented. After being turned back by the tide at Airplane Hammock, I then drove to Jungle Road Entrance and monitored a few hundred meters of beach there, then returned to South Beach Entrance to meet Katy and we continued to monitor toward McQueens Inlet.
We waited for the gate to McQueens (a log jumble obstructing the beach) then monitored to McQueens Inlet (09:35), then headed back south along the beach. A class from the Island Ecology program was passed at South Beach Entrance heavily involved in a field lecture. We left the machines north of the mud bank on the south end and crossed Beach Creek and monitored SW Beach on foot, returning to the Turtle House at 11:46.
After a lunch, we hung six Venetian blinds in the west porch; it now looks so good we have renamed it, The Beautiful Sunset Suite.
A Word about Hogs and Sea Turtles
Feral hogs inhabit many beach areas of the world, and can become a problem predator of sea turtle nests. St. Catherines Island is no exception, we have an abundance of feral hogs living on the Island. Some of these hogs cruise the beach on a routine basis foraging on dead horseshoe crabs and edible flotsam. Because they may encounter nesting turtles on their nocturnal patrols, they must be closely monitored on a daily basis to determine if and when depredation on sea turtle nests begins. The day such activity is learned by the hog, it must be eliminated from the population or it will apply its learning to all active nests on its beach, decimating the nests by its depredations.
Rooting behavior of hogs is especially troublesome, as it can easily lead to the discovery of the food resources provided by sea turtle nests as the hog roots along the beach. The picture below documents this behavior in a South Beach hog; a behavior we must stop, before nesting begins in earnest.
Hog Rooting on South Beach
Rooting by a feral hog along South Beach Entrance is a behavior that will lead to discovery and exploitation of sea turtle eggs buried in the beach sand. These “hog craters” represent a depredation “time-bomb” for threatened and endangered loggerheads nesting on South Beach. What are the options to eliminate this behavior from this rookery? What balance needs to be maintained between hogs and sea turtles utilizing our beach habitat? Answers to questions like these are often not easy to formulate and execute. What would you do about this problem?
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