UPDATE: Tiny turtles hang out in North Carolina
Eight tiny green sea turtles are taking a short break on their journey to the Gulf Stream.
The celebrated critters arrived at North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores Dec. 7 where biologists took custody of them.
"We're going to hang on to them for a couple of days in case any others hatch," said Wendy Cluse, conservation and research coordinator for the aquarium. "As more hatch, they'll be transferred."
The baby turtles hatched in a climate-controlled room at the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and Environment in Lewes, where Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute volunteers had taken shifts monitoring the turtle eggs.
In addition to the eight baby turtles, 186 eggs also made the trip to North Carolina. The eggs are now incubating in a marine lab at North Carolina State University in Morehead City, 10 minutes away from the aquarium, Cluse said.
Depending on the weather and temperature, Cluse said biologists intend to release the hatchlings into the Gulf Stream over the weekend.
A trip to the release point is a daylong production because the Gulf Stream current runs 30 to 40 miles off the North Carolina coast. Cluse said the aquarium will charter a boat or ask the Coast Guard for help, if the Coast Guard happens to be going out.
"They are happy to take the turtles if they're doing operations out there," she said.
For now, the baby turtles are in separate, shallow, watery beds. In the wild baby turtles learn to float as they make their way to the Gulf Stream, so biologists will add water to the beds allowing the turtles to float once they're sure the turtles are able, Cluse said.
They may not eat for a couple of days because the hatchlings first use up stored energy, Cluse said. Their golf-ball sized eggs are rich in nutrients and remain attached to the turtles several days after they hatch, she said.
"Their energy can last for a couple of days because they're working off of retained yolk energy," she said.
Green sea turtles are an endangered species, so when the mother turtle laid her eggs in Delaware, it became a federal case – and moving the eggs and hatchlings required federal approval.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control employees and volunteers with Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute escorted the hatchlings and 186 eggs to the aquarium after caring for them since they were laid at Herring Point in Cape Henlopen State Park Aug. 18. It was the first documented sighting of a green sea turtle nest in Delaware.
The eggs were moved inland that day when officials determined the tidewater would kill them. They were moved again in October when temperatures dropped, but not before surviving Hurricane Irene and the following tropical storm. Their incubation period lasted 106 days inside the climate-controlled room, a bit longer than it takes for eggs to hatch in the wild.
The first three hatched Dec. 4, followed by two more Dec. 6 and another two a day later.
Related articles
http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/news/story/update-baby-sea-turtles-hatch/190145
http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/news/story/first-ever-sea-turtle-nest-found-at-cape/143758
