Turtle Watch

Do you see this big check?

Okay, look at it a little more closely!

For an entire school year, the Kindergarden class at Ashley Hall studied sea turtles, took field trips to the sea turtle hospital, visited sea turtle nesting sites. Chapel became a sea turtle expert of sorts - filling us all in on their habitats, habits, predators, sizes, types.... and so on. So this past spring Chapel joined the folly beach sea turtle walk program on Folly. She is actually a substitute walker if someone is unable to walk their assigned section one morning (and you gotta go early because that's when the turtles come on shore to nest). Well, we have walked a couple of times and it is a close-knit community, these walkers. Yesterday our neighbor, who is also the first lady of Folly Beach and an experienced turtle walker, called to tell Chapel a turtle was at 9th St. East laying her eggs. So out the door we went. At 6:45. In our pajama's. And here is what we saw - the most amazing thing I have seen on Folly, and their are a lot of sights to be seen on Folly!

And since this beautiful creature nested her 115 or so eggs in a tidal zone, volunteers had to carefully dig up the nest, remove each egg and place in a safe, new nest in the dunes. Where it will be protected and watched until it hatches in about 55 days. So exciting. Can't wait to see these little ones!

And here is my little one, experiencing first hand what she learned about all year.