Awesome Artistic Friday with Hannah

Hannah and Mommy

Shadow Play

From the sea we came; to the sea we shall return...

Creation and wonder...

 

 Canaveral National Seashore, New Smyrna Beach

One of our 'rescue' babie

     I decided to be the fun mommy yesterday and take Hannah out of school for a little educational field trip after receiving a phone call from my best friend of thirty years. Lisa was telling me how she was getting supplies for Ivy's field trip the following day to Canaveral National Seashore Park where they were going to be digging up endangered sea turtle nests and releasing the hatchlings into the ocean. Ivy attends a very wonderful charter school and her first grade teacher is a part time park ranger as well as a scientist involved in the sea turtle rescue program for the state since 1975.

    After I hung up, I realized that Hannah's public school (a very awesome "A" school in it's own right) is just down the road from this park and yet they never have field trips! I talked to several people about my concerns over this newly realized fact and was told that the public schools can no longer afford the liability insurance to give our children the same wonderfully educational out-of-school experiences that we had as kids and it made me sad. I decided that this was also something I would like Hannah to experience and so I let her stay home with the understanding that we would still be getting up early just as if she were going to school and be down at the beach by 8:30 am. It was SO worth the argument and fusing when the alarm went off at the usual 6:30 because I was able to capture some memorable images of Hannah and then of us together.

     Once Ivy's school got there about 9:00 am, Mrs. Jordan (her teacher) and Ranger Carter were told that I was "the photographer" and they let Hannah and I totally crash the entire morning. We learned that when the sea turtle program was first started there were only approximately 1700 nests along New Smyrna Beach and a nest containing 100 eggs might have only 10 hatchlings make it. This was due to crabs, raccoons or bacteria. After the babies make it to the surface and onto the beach they are then picked off by the seagulls one by one. Today, New Smyrna Beach boasts over 5000 sea turtle nests and a nest containing 100 eggs will have over 50% hatch! This is due to the metal wire they place over each nest to deter the raccoons and other predators from digging the eggs up. They also place a stake with written information on the type of turtle (Green or Loggerhead) and the date the eggs were laid at the head of the nest. It is a remarkable program!

     The first four nests that we checked were either already hatched and full of broken shells, ready to hatch any day or the eggs were no good. We all thought that we were treading through the heat only to go home with no images or memories of wriggling, adorable, live baby sea turtles in our memory...until the fourth and last nest was uncovered! Mrs. Jordan was digging away and nothing...nothing...and then suddenly her hands are FULL to over-flowing with brown, sanding, definitely wriggling, adorable baby turtles whose little flippers were going so fast as soon as they saw daylight! She had kids throwing hats at her to corral the babies and she just kept pulling out more and more and more squiggling babies. The children were told to form two lines from the nest to the water's edge and the babies were placed on the beach because they have to "imprint" on the sand where they are born. In 20 years, each baby will return to the EXACT location it was born to lay her own eggs! Another interesting fact; most of the turtles born on New Smyrna Beach are, in fact, female. The children were all squealing with excitement and once each baby made it to the water, they joined in yelling and waving their arms and even throwing shells to scare off the seagulls, who unfortunately did manage to make off with two of the 20`something babies that were released. That brought squeals of shock and sadness from the munchkins but overall, we increased their chances for survival by just a little more on that beautiful, sunny Friday morning at our famous little beach! I also got some amazing photographs and after 30 years of residing in New Smyrna, this was my first sea turtle hatching and one I don't think I will ever forget because I have the memory of my child's face when all those wiggly babies popped out of their sandy seaside nest.