#10 - I've Never Seen Sea Turtles Hatch

I have spent many of my days on this earth at the beach. My family always visits the same place every summer in Pompano Beach, Florida. One of the things that I have always been fascinated with is sea turtles and their nests. The little guys are just so cute and the fact that they live for decades is so interesting to me. And of course I have spent my summers hoping to watch a nest hatch.

Many times in Pompano we have seen their nests but I have never been able to see a mother turtle laying her eggs or the nest when the eggs are hatching. There are several conservation programs in the Pompano area that track the nests, rope them off, and at times even relocate the nests to less populated areas. After almost 30 years of visiting this area, I have been waiting for this opportunity.


While visiting the Blevins family at Oak Island over the weekend I finally had the opportunity to see a hatching. Mark has been volunteering with the local turtle group and goes out on "nest watch" in the evenings. After being gone for only a short time, Anna, Mike and myself all got the text from Mark - the sand is moving. And so were we! We got the Blevins girls out of bed, into car seats, put on flip flops and were out the door in under 3 minutes! Anna drove like a crazy woman (well not really with 2 kids in the backseat) to the location and we hiked across the sand to the area.

The little guys were just getting started when we got there. At the actual nest site a red light is used to barely illuminate the area and the red tone does not disturb them.


The turtle volunteers had already set up what they call a runway to help keep the turtles on track as they make it to the ocean.




The volunteers then use flashlights to simulate moonlight to help direct the turtles down to the ocean and hopefully on their journey to adulthood.

The sight of all these little newborn turtles was absolutely awe inspiring. It was amazing to watch how complicated but perfectly orchestrated this natural moment was as it unfolded. Even though there were people helping these little guys it makes you think about the miracle of life and how for who knows how many years the natural born instinct has led them to the first steps of their life. It really made me think about how tiny we all are, but how there is a master plan that we all fit into and how we each have the perfect talents for our role.

That night we watched 69 turtles hatch from the nest. I'll admit it - I cried. I really can't put into words how long I have been waiting to see this and how much joy it gave me to actually be able to cross this off my list. I certainly owe Mark a big "Thank You!"

So good luck little guys! I know you have a hard time ahead of you, but just know that you have already made such an impact in my life. Life is a struggle, but you just keep on going until the waves carry you off to your next adventure.