20
No.
Number
21
Turtle Tracks!
Finding a hatched nest with a hundred or
more baby turtle tracks headed to the water!
- Jane Ellis
22
No.
Dale Anderson: Mr. Turtle
For so many visitors to Kiawah as well as for all of our residents, turtles are always high on the list of Island favorites.
For 20 years, Dale Anderson has been a driving force behind efforts to provide protection for the loggerheads that deposit
their hundreds of eggs on our beach. The 2013 season was a banner year for turtle nests on Kiawah – a record-setting 402
identified nests . Dale keeps statistics about numbers of turtles, numbers of eggs in relocated nests, numbers of unhatched
eggs and numbers of eggs lost for various reasons. He submits our data to the South Carolina Department of Natural
Resources and that agency further shares numbers with related organizations on the east coast. Dale attributes last year’s
great numbers to two causes. The first is the effort made by the Kiawah Island Turtle Patrol for the past 20 years, helping
to insure that as many eggs as possible hatch and that hatchlings reach the ocean. The second factor is the requirement
that shrimp boats use turtle excluding devices so turtles can escape without harm from the nets. Dale attributes his
involvement with Turtle Patrol to a single source: the inimitable Bob Cowgill. He met Bob shortly after he moved to
Kiawah and followed him through all of his efforts to protect the wildlife of Kiawah.
Dale loves finding the hatchlings as they emerge from below the dunes. His favorite story about Turtle Patrol involves a
couple from Ohio, Laurie and Dale (now known as the “Other Dale”), who were vacationing on the Island in October a
few years ago. They came upon Dale who was under a boardwalk investigating a turtle nest. Laurie immediately marched
up to him, informed him he was not allowed to be in the dunes and said she could report him. Dale Anderson lifted up the
jacket he was wearing over his Turtle Patrol shirt, Superman style, and said, “Are you going to report me to me?” He then
told the couple exactly what he was doing. Needless to say Laurie and the Other Dale now spend all of their vacation time
on Kiawah so they can be part of Turtle Patrol. They ride the truck looking for tracks, they walk the beach looking for
evidence of hatching and have become Dale Anderson’s close friends.
- Shauneen Hutchinson
Watching the sun come up while looking
for turtle tracks in the dunes. Wonderful!
- Jane Ellis
#
23
Turtle Patrol
Volunteering with the Kiawah Island
Turtle Patrol.
- Jane Ellis