This morning I got up at 6 am to watch sunrise over the Atlantic. As I walked along the shore, a cup of tea in hand, I realized just how much I didn’t know about the natural habitat in this neck of the woods. For example, I know very little about how the tides move, how the grasses and dunes protect the shoreline from erosion, and embarrassingly little about the nesting of the loggerhead sea turtles.

 

Topsail Island is an official turtle sanctuary. The Atlantic Loggerheads have been coming to this area for centuries to lay their eggs. They are an endangered species, weighing from 250 to 400 pounds. The female comes ashore at night, digs a nest near the foot of the dune, lays as many as 150 eggs, and then covers it. Sometimes after coming ashore and digging the nest, she will decide she isn’t happy about the situation and will leave without depositing her eggs. This is called a “false crawl”. Many times she will return to the same area on subsequent nights to try again. When she finally lays her eggs, they must be left undisturbed for 45 to 90 days.

 

Sea turtles dig the dark! Porch lights disorient nesting mothers and lead fledgling hatchlings away from the sea, a trip they cannot survive. So during nesting season which is mid May through August, all porch lights must be turned off so the newborns can find their way to the water. At night their natural predators, sea gulls and crabs, are not present. This helps them survive their journey into the moonlit ocean. The local folks are very protective of the hatching event. They take large brooms and create a pathway to the ocean to help ensure that the loggerheads who only come ashore 3 to 5 times a year are supported in their effort.

 

This morning, unsuspecting of my ecological sin, I unknowingly stepped into one of the turtle paths to the ocean. I will surely never make that mistake again! After apologizing profusely to the local sea turtle protective agency, a woman of 70 years in age, I promised her I would be more respectful of my ecological surroundings. Love live the loggerheads.