Old Shelley and Friends

Hello to all my fans and I'm sorry that I haven't blogged since November the 17th. However, I hope I can make up for that wide, wide space by telling you about Lady Musgrave Island. Just bear with me...

Lady Musgrave Reef

We sailed to Lady Musgrave Island from Pancake Creek. The morning after we arrived in the little anchorage, we motored ashore in the dinghy and went looking for turtles. I should tell you that Lady Musgrave is a popular turtle-laying area. We took a track winding through the trees on the island. The Noddy's, the main birds of the place, didn't like the white light of Dad's headlamp and kept running at his legs. It was very funny, but the island stank of their...

Anyway, when we reached the beach on the other side of the island, we saw a Green turtle making it's way back to the ocean. We walked on a little way and found a small group of turtle experts watching another Green's progress to the water. One of them was Jim who Dad and Cameron had met in their inspection of the island the previous afternoon. We were hoping to see hatchlings but unfortunately we didn't see any.

Cameron and I with
a nesting Green Turtle

We followed them along the beach to a Green filling in her nest. Another Green was just next door digging her nest. We followed the former Green down the beach then watched the- oh, this is so confusing- new former Green. She was digging her third attempted nest because her first two weren't exactly the right shape. Thankfully, she was satisfied with her third attempt and laid her eggs while we watched. I called her Old Shelley. Jim took one of the eggs out and Cameron, Dad and I held it. No Hatchlings.

Card towers are not easy
on a rocking boat

He put the egg back and we got to pat the turtle as she filled in her nest. The experts wrote down her tag number and we went back to Seasprint.

Later, at night, we went back, me with a bandanna around my nose, and watched another Green dig her nest. After about half an hour later, she moved on and started digging a new hole so we went back to Seasprint. No Hatchlings.

The next night Cameron and Dad went back alone. When they came back, they reported seeing a Loggerhead Turtle with a head the size of a cow. But still no hatchlings.