New summer! New island! New turtles!

I was the sort of kid who chased down frogs in the backyard, sang "Born Free" when I released grass snakes and kissed my minnow before baiting the hook. So, I suppose it's no big surprise that today some of my greatest life passions are sea turtles and marine conservation. The past two summers I worked as a sea turtle intern at Sea Turtle, Inc., a sea turtle hospital on South Padre Island, Texas. This year I completed my undergraduate degree in Biology and Spanish and made my way to Bald Head Island, North Carolina for another sea turtle filled summer. The Bald Head Island Conservancy where I'm now working offers a ton of great educational programs for kids and locals, but I think it's nice to share some of the behind-the-scenes action as well. I hope you follow along and enjoy the stories from my summer adventures!

One thing I love about working with wildlife conservation organizations is the daily adventure, there is never a slow or uneventful day. My dad and I have had a few days to vacation (a biologist on a true vacation....HA!) on the island before I start training, but true to my biologist-on-vacation theory our days were non-stop. On our first full day we went out with Maureen Dewire, BHIC's Director of Education, for a 7:00a turtle patrol. Within minutes it started raining and we were all soaked, but we were all so excited to be out on the beach that we kept on anyway. We finished about half of the patrol when it began to pour so we decided to put the rest of the patrol on hold. As we pulled up to the conservancy two police cars were parked in the drive. It turned out one of the officers found an injured red fox pup and brought the little guy over to see if we could help.



After the rain finally stopped the three of us went back out to the beach to finish out the patrol and we found the first false crawl of the season! The momma turtle didn't actually nest, but it means the turtle season has started on Bald Head.




This morning Brett, my dad and I patrolled again and found a second false crawl, so we are all hopeful that there will be a nest soon.

I've also celebrated "biscuit payday" with Amanda and Maureen with the Market's breakfast biscuits, tried my hand at a bit of birding and walked the paths along the salt march. It's amazing how eventful these past few days have been.

Over the next few days all of the interns will be moving in to the conservancy dorm and Tuesday morning we all start training. I'm looking forward to meeting the new crew, starting work and seeing my first BHI loggerhead!