Have you wondered what I have been doing in Florida?
I have been walking the beaches,
with the Turtle Patrol!
This is a dedicated group of volunteers, the Coastal Wildlife Club, a non-profit with no paid staff, that patrol miles of barrier beaches protecting the sea turtles. Five species of sea turtle inhabit the Gulf of Mexico, 2, the Loggerhead and the endangered Kemp's Ridley, use the beaches right here in Englewood. It is very exciting. There are over a thousand marked nests. I can't wait to see one excavated - after the babies have crawled to the sea, they excavate the nest, count the egg shells, see if any are still in there having trouble and hope to find clues to saving these magnificent ancient creatures. W. is looking at baby Snowy Plovers, on the last walk we saw the nests. They are also endangered and we are helping a sister organization with sightings and counts. The baby birds are so adorable. One of the most amazing things I have ever seen is watching them learn to fly that day! They ran on the first low ridge of sand, right into the wind, then flapped their fluffy little wings like mad and got 2 inches off the gound for a foot or 2. Precious.
Oh and the green thing W. is holding - we also pick up all the trash when we walk.
This is Palm Island, you get there by taking a small car ferry, friends in Washington, think 6 cars small.
and the views just go on and on....the water is about 85 degrees,
it just does not get much better than this.
I wonder when you will be coming to visit.....
