Survivor — turtle style
Turtle Patrol volunteer Mike Tapp digs deep to check on hjow many eggs hatched. It was while digging that he and his wife Barbara discovered five hatchlings that were alive but buried alive.
By NICK MILANO
Sun Correspondent
ENGLEWOOD — Manasota Key resident Mark LeClaire stumbled on a strange sight one morning while walking along the beach.
Fishing poles in hand, he came upon a turtle nest.
That's not unusual in Englewood. Its beaches are well-known as turtle nesting sites.
What caught his eye, however, were the two people hovering over the nest.
"I was setting up for fishing, and I noticed two folks digging up the nest," LeClaire said. "I thought I'd investigate."
The diggers turned out to be volunteers Barbara and Mike Tapp.
They had come to the beach to check on a nest. They and other volunteers monitor every nest on Englewood's beaches.
The reason is research-oriented. After a female turtle lays her eggs, the Tapps said, volunteers keep a sharp eye on the nest to make sure they are not disturbed. The volunteers then continue monitoring the nests until, weeks later, the baby turtles have hatched and made their perilous mad dash for the Gulf's welcoming waters.
Once the hatchlings are gone, the volunteers wait three days and then come back to sift through the sand to see how many turtles made it to the sea and record the results.
The results for that particular nest:
• Out of 85 total eggs that were laid, 73 hatched.
• Twelve eggs, according to the Tapps, were unhatched.
• Eleven of those that hatched "pipped," which means that, for one reason or another, the baby turtle died before it left the nest.
There was an oddity in this nest, however, LeClaire said.
Five baby sea turtles were discovered, hatched and still alive, buried in the nest.
They had apparently been there for three days and had miraculously lived despite that they had no food or water.
LeClaire and the Tapps helped all five baby turtles get into the Gulf.
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