Nesting Loggerhead - Drop Those Eggs Gently!

Last month, Matt and Jim went on a night beach walk in search of a nesting sea turtle. Matt was anxious to try out the video camera's night vision capability, and if there's a nesting sea turtle around, Jim will usually find it. They hooked up with the University of Central Florida students that monitor sea turtle activities in the Archie Carr Refuge, and soon the group came upon a loggerhead working her way up the beach to lay her eggs. Once she got her pit scooped out and began the egg laying process, Matt started filming, with Jim holding a low red-shielded light to augment the video cam's night vision. This is a long process - by the time the sea turtle finds a location she's happy with, scoops out her nest, lays approximately 100 eggs, covers the nest, and heads back to the ocean, it's about a two-hour process. Fortunately, Matt was able to edit the two hours down to 30 seconds so that you can see the turtle's lovely face, eggs dropping into the pit, and her heading back out to the ocean. Pay particular attention to the frames that show the little "flip" motion of her back flippers just before an egg drops. (The eggs are about the size of pingpong balls, with a leathery shell.)