Ossabaw Island, Georgia. (It's pronounced Awe-Sa-Baw)
"Where is that?", you ask.
The short answer:
About 15-20 miles south of Savannah, GA.If you like a descriptive answer:
The boundaries for Ossabaw Island extend to the Ogeechee River on the north, east thru Hell Gate and Green Island and Ossabaw Sounds, south along the Atlantic Ocean to St. Catherines Sound, and then north along the Bear River, thru the Florida Passage and rejoining the Ogeechee River.
Or maybe you like a map:
View Ossabaw Island in a larger map
What are you doing?
Each year from May through September, sea turtles nest on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Because all sea turtles are threatened, and many are endangered, there is an effort at the federal level to protect them. This effort is undertaken by various state agencies, volunteer groups, aquariums, science centers, etcetera, depending on the area being managed. Our island, Ossabaw Island, is Georgia's first Heritage Preserve, and is managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) non-game division. Each year, GADNR assigns two people to live and work on Ossabaw to monitor and protect sea turtle nests, primarily Loggerhead sea turtle nests, although Leatherback sea turtles have recently begun to nest in Georgia, and we hope to encounter one.
So our job is this: be on the beach every morning at dawn and patrol the entire beach (about 18 km across 4 separate beaches divided by small tidal creeks) looking for signs of sea turtle nesting activity in the form of their tracks, or "crawls". When we find a crawl, we determine if it is a false crawl (no nest), or a nesting crawl. If there is a nest, we decide if it is in a good location, or a poor location - mostly based on if it will be washed over by the tides. Poorly located nests are relocated to higher ground. Once a nest is in a good spot, we mark it, and cover it with plastic screens in order to protect it from depredation by ghost crabs, raccoons, and hogs (though they hogs can move the screens very easily). We then check on the nest everyday for 50 days. Then we remove one of the screens, a closer mesh, and a few days later, the hatchlings should emerge and run into the sea.
During all of this there is plenty of data to be collected. We track our survey effort (kilometers surveyed, time surveyed, crawls & emergences found). Locations of nests are recorded, eggs in relocated nests are counted, we count eggs that were eaten, hatchlings that died, etc. We also collect an egg from each nest for DNA analysis, which is providing answers to questions like how many turtles are nesting, how are they related, how many clutches does a single female lay, and at what frequency. In the event that any sea turtles or marine mammals become stranded on the beach, we report on the stranding, and if the animal is alive, activate a process to get them to a rehabilitation center. All this data is used on local, state and federal levels to make management decisions that affect fisheries, development, funding, conservation status and much more. As our boss, Mark, likes to put it, we are "performing the grunt work of conservation." The work is tiring, but the island is beautiful, and we're helping saving sea turtles, one nest at a time.
What Else?
Please use the comments link below this post to ask your questions, I'll be sure to answer them.
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