CAPE LOOKOUT NATIONAL SEASHORE — One tiny flipper at a time, baby sea turtles are making their way to the ocean, and it's biologist Karen Altman's job to make sure no one gets left behind.
Sea turtle nesting season runs from May through mid-September
There are over 400 nests at Cape Lookout National Seashore
Biologists excavate the nests after they hatch to analyze the contents
The release any babies they find into the ocean
“I don't know what there is not to love about it,” Altman said.
She is part of a team that's trying to protect sea turtle nests on Cape Lookout National Seashore.
“It's hard work,” Altman said. “We do a lot of bird work. We do the turtle work. It's hot days, long days. It can be frustrating, but you're on the beach. It's beautiful. You get to see chicks. You get to see hatchlings. It's just a great environment to be in.”
She's been working with turtle nests since 1998 when she moved to coastal North Carolina from the Midwest. Now, it's her happy place. She says there are currently 412 turtle nests in Cape Lookout — the second largest number on record for the park.
Altman's job isn't over when the turtles hatch. She excavates the nest in order to find out how many eggs hatched and look for any baby turtles who didn't make it out of the sand.
Every day, Altman, and others like her, patrol the beach looking for new nests or signs that a nest has hatched. Once they find one, they wait five days for all the babies to get out before they dig through the remains. Sometimes the babies don't make it, but Altman does her best to help.
“It never gets to the point where it's not sad,” Altman said. “If it does, maybe you're not doing the right job anymore. It's sad but you gotta look at the end picture and think about all the ones that made it and it outshadows the ones that don't.”
Overall, Altman says she loves working with the turtles and still gets excited to see the hatchlings.
This summer, for the first time, Altman and her team are inviting the public to join them during their excavations for a “Can You Dig It” turtle program.
“This is something that just a few weeks ago was a talking point, a dream,” said Nate Toering, the lead park ranger for Cape Lookout National Seashore. “We started moving forward to make it happen. Now that it's happening, the public interest is just really great.”
Because they never know when the nests are going to hatch, these programs are scheduled only a few days in advance. You can stay up to date on their Facebook page.
