Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Resource Management Field Summary for August 26– September 8, 2010 

(Bodie, Hatteras and Ocracoke Districts)

 

 

Due to Hurricane Earl, there was not a weekly report last week. This report, covering the last two weeks is the final report for 2010. The annual species reports will be available in January 2011.

 

Final Piping Plover (PIPL):  

 

Location	Total Pairs	Total Nests	Nests Hatched	Nests Lost	Total Chicks Hatched	Chicks Lost	Chicks Fledged
Bodie Spit	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cape Point	6	6	6	0	21	6	15
South Beach	1	1	1	0	1	1	0
Hatteras Inlet	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
N. Ocracoke	1	1	1	0	3	3	0
South Point	4	7	3	4	8	8	0
CAHA TOTALS	12	15	11	4	33	18	15

 

Final American Oystercatchers (AMOY):  

 

Location	Total Nests to Date	Active Nests	Nests Hatched	Nests Lost	Total Chicks Hatched	Unfledged Chicks	Chicks Lost	Fledged Chicks
Green Island	3	0	2	1	6	0	2	4
Bodie District	2	0	1	1	1	0	1	0
Bodie/Hatteras District	5	0	4	1	10	0	5	5
Hatteras District	12	0	9	3	22	0	4	18
Ocracoke District	6	0	5	1	9	0	6	3
CAHA TOTALS	28	0	21	7	48	0	18	30

 

 

 

Final Colonial Waterbirds (CWBs):

 

Final nest numbers will be available in January.

 

Sea Turtle Nests (New Nests Past Two Weeks):

 

Bodie District Nests:

None the past two weeks.

 

Bodie District False Crawls:

None the past two weeks.

 

Bodie Hatteras District Nests:

8/26- A green sea turtle nest was found 1.2 mi S of R23.

9/6- A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 0.5 mi N of R27.

 

Bodie Hatteras District False Crawls:

None the past two weeks.

 

Hatteras District Nests:

8/28 - A green sea turtle nest was found 2.5 mi N of Ramp 55.

8/29 - A green sea turtle nest was found 0.4 mi W Ramp 49.

 

Hatteras District False Crawls:

9/5 – A loggerhead false crawl was found at 2.1 mi N of Ramp 34.

 

Ocracoke District Nests:

8/26 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 0.86 mi S of Ramp 72.

 

Ocracoke District False Crawl:

None the past two weeks.

 

New nests past two weeks: 5 (Hatteras – 2, Bodie - 2, Ocracoke - 1)

Total nests to date:  153 (Hatteras – 86, Bodie - 18, Ocracoke - 48)

New false crawls past two weeks: 1 (Hatteras – 1, Bodie - 0, Ocracoke - 0)

Total false crawls to date:  115 (Hatteras – 74, Bodie - 7, Ocracoke - 34)

Nests hatch past two weeks: 20 (Hatteras – 17, Bodie - 2, Ocracoke - 1)  

Total nests hatch to date: 75 (Hatteras – 37, Bodie - 11, Ocracoke - 27)

 

Hurricane Earl

Prior to the Hurricane Earl coming up the East Coast, park staff consulted with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and decided to relocate all sea turtle nests 35 days and older if it appeared they might be in danger from the storm surge.

 

In Bodie/Hatteras District, one nest out of the eight nests (at that time) in the district was relocated.  One nest which had been in the ground less than 35 days was completely washed out.  One nest has hatched in the district since Earl.

 

In Hatteras District, 13 nests out of the 50 nests remaining (at that time) in the district were relocated.  Eight nests, including some of the relocated nests, were lost due to the storm. Three nests which had been in the ground less than 35 days were completely washed out, two nests were lost because of a tidal pool which formed behind them raised the water table and drowned the nests.  Two nests were lost because of inundation when the overwash pooled over the nests. And the final nest, which was in its hatch window, was lost to over wash.  Six nests have hatched in the district since Earl.

 

In Ocracoke District no nests were relocated.  Three nests out of the 21 nests on the beach at that time were lost due to the storm.  One nest was completely washed out and two nests were lost because of inundation when the overwash pooled over the nests.  One nest has hatched in the district since Earl.

 

Sea Turtle Strandings:

 

Bodie District:

9/4- A dead loggerhead sea turtle was discovered 0.3 miles S of Ramp 1.

Hatteras District:

None observed the past two weeks.

Ocracoke District:

9/8 – A dead loggerhead sea turtle was found 0.1 miles N of Ramp 68.

 

Marine Mammals:

 

Bodie District:

None observed the past two weeks.

 

Hatteras District:

None observed the past two weeks.

 

Ocracoke District:

None observed the past two weeks.

 

Closures – additions/modifications/removals:

 

Closure #	Location	Species	Date Installed or Removed
Bodie District
BI10-001-R	Bodie Spit	LETE/BLSK	9/08/2010
WM BI10-001	Bodie Spit	Migratory PIPL	9/07/2010
Hatteras District
None
Ocracoke District
OI10-002-R	South Point	AMOY	9/8/2010
WM OI10-002	South Point	Migratory PIPL	9/8/2010

 

 

Closure intrusions:

 

Bodie District:

8/27- Two sets of pedestrian tracks entered the filter fence and one individual defecated next to the nest marker 1.8 miles N of Ramp 23.

8/28- One stake was broken and the sign was missing. Two signs were removed and laid down on the ground with the string between signs broken.  There were some bare footprints around the removed signs 1.8 miles N of Ramp 23.  The technicians did not report this as a potential deliberate violation.

8/28- One set of footprints and one set of dog prints were inside the closure 1.9 miles N of Ramp 23.

9/6- One set of footprints were in the closure 1.7 miles N of Ramp 30.

        

Hatteras District:

8/31 – Two sets of pedestrian and dog tracks observed in sea turtle nest closure 0.1 miles N of Ramp 38.

8/31 – Fifteen sets of  pedestrian tracks and dog tracks observed near hatchling tracks inside filter fence at the sea turtle nest closure 1.6 miles N of Ramp 38.

9/6 – Four pedestrian tracks observed in sea turtle nest closure 0.4 miles S of Ramp 38. One of the pedestrians wrote “Jack” in the sand inside the filter fence.

9/8 – One set of pedestrian and two sets of dog tracks observed in the turtle nest closure 1.1 mi S of Ramp 49.

9/8 – Two sets of dog tracks observed in sea turtle nest closure 2.5 mi S of Ramp 49.

9/8 – One set of pedestrian tracks observed inside the sea turtle nest closure 0.4 mi N of Ramp 55.

 

Ocracoke District:

None observed the past two weeks.