Saturday, September 03, 2011

Tropical Storm Lee at Pensacola Beach - Saturday morning



Although the surf was up just a little more this morning from yesterday afternoon, the wind definitely seemed higher.  I will try to get the battery replaced in my small, hand-held wind speed gauge this afternoon so I can use it next time I go out.

PB 7121, which is a loggerhead nest, took on quite a bit of water during the night. If you compare the video from yesterday afternoon to this morning's you can see that it has resulted in the accumulation of several additional inches of sand top of the nest. The whole area is also littered with jellyfish.

2 comments:

mary moe said...

what do you do-if anything- about the water & sand in the nest?

Barrier Island Girl said...

Well the nest was originally dug and laid in the sand by the mother sea turtle and the "clutch" of eggs can be anywhere from 12 - 18" down. But the waves have deposited several extra inches of sand on top of the nest, which means a lot more digging for the hatchlings when they are trying to get to the surface.

There isn't really anything we can do for the nest now except to see if anything hatches once it dries out. If either sea turtle eggs or hatchlings are covered in water for an extended time, then they will drown. Sand drains fast, but this nest has been taking on a lot of water.