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Watercooler Diaries::Sea Turtle Hunt — CSI style

It’s 6:30 a.m. The sun is rising over A1A, and I’m speeding toward the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, the site of the city’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program.

Camera/tripod in the trunk? Check. Extra battery in the Prada satchel? Check. Lavaliere mic in the glove compartment? Check. Six pack of Peach Fresca in the Playmate? Check? Oh no! Where’s the Playmate that I had carefully filled with ice at midnight? Harrumph … it’s in the garage waiting to be loaded onto its usual spot on the dog bed in the back of the Beamer. Bummer, I’d forgotten to load it in; damn the darkness in that garage (and outside at that time of the morning!). One thing about living in Florida, you’ve got to remember to hydrate. Constantly.

No worries, I thought. I was excited for my first sea turtle hatchling hunt. Rachael had set it up for 7 a.m., and I had forgotten to ask her exactly what we’d be doing. Also, she’d been stuck in civil court all day after getting the plume assignment of covering a cesarean gone wrong. Hence, her phone was shut off.

Luckily, I wore jeans and converse high-tops because as it turns out this was an early-morning tag along with a couple of marine conservations. They’re there to study the turtles’ nesting patterns along this 5-mile strip of Boca’s beautiful beaches. Yes, all this at sunrise.

We’re turning a two-parter for our newly-launched “Florida in Focus” series where — in this episode, anyway — we’re taking a closer look at one of the oldest inhabitants of the state’s coastlines. Down here they’re called “Florida’s Living Fossils,” and local officials estimate that Palm Beach and Broward Counties alone had 12,500 nests this season.

There are three varieties of turtles on Florida’s beaches — the loggerhead, the leatherback and the greens. The average turtle nest has anywhere from 80 to 140 eggs. These turtles may be hanging out on the beach, but they don’t have it easy! Between light pollution, people, raccoons, eroding beaches and poachers, these walking fossils have a lot to contend with. The leatherback and green turtles are endangered species. The loggerhead isn’t plentiful either — it’s classified as a “threatened” species. In fact, South Florida is one of only two places they are found in the world.

It was beautiful and educational and fascinating. Please check out our photos!

I only had one bad moment. I was on my hands and knees (see photo) digging up a nest when my index finger poked through a cracked shell. I suddenly smelled that unforgettable ghastly scent — that of a dead and decaying body. Except it wasn’t a dead body, a la the 11 o’clock Channel 10 News, it was a dead sea turtle embryo. I nearly puked. Then I stopped and did my mental imagery: I was on set doing a cameo in next week’s episode of CSI Miami.

Don’t forget to tune in on Nov. 7 for our two-part series: “Sea Turtle Hatchling Hunting!”

posted by INSIDE FAU @ 9:14 AM