Tabulating the Data  Eggs removed during assessment are separated into those which hatched and those which did not hatch.  The percentage success of each nest is determined and recorded, then transferred to a spreadsheet which allows us to analyze the data and determine success of the program.

Nest Stratigraphy  This nest (94-138) did not hatch because of a high ground water table visible in the bottom of this trench. During times of heavy rain this water table is thought to rise and cover the clutch of eggs, drowning them. Black layers are laminations or beds of heavy minerals.  On-going research on the morphology of nests and the disruption of the layering of the beach by the nests continue in the anticipation of recognition of fossilized sea turtle nests from sedimentary rocks deposited during the 110 million year history of sea turtles. The fist described fossilized sea turtle nest was found in Colorado in 1996 (Bishop et al. 1997).

Productivity Data Table  The 1994 St. Catherines Sea Turtle Program saw 184 nests deposited and managed by 20 Sea Turtle Interns including 12 participants who were school teachers and 6 who were pre-service education majors. The summer of 1994 saw 8,110 hatchling turtles produced from St. Catherines Island.  Research aspects of each Summer’s program is tabulated on a spreadsheet and used to document productivity.

End of the Year  At the end of a normal nesting seasons screens, rebar, and stakes must be neatly stacked to facilitate ease of use during next year’s nesting season.  Proper stowage of gear is essential to a smoothly run natural history program.

Stranded Sea Turtles  Monitoring duties include a daily beach patrol to monitor for new nests, to observe all active nests, and to watch for "stranded" marine reptiles and marine mammals. Strandings include live and dead sea turtles and dolphins. When a stranded turtle or dolphin is found on the beach, its condition is ascertained and an attempt to rescue it is mounted if alive. If dead, the animal is removed from the water and buried for salvage of its skeleton. All strandings are reported and tabulated by Georgia Department of Natural Resources and by federal agents. Newly dead animals may have a necropsy performed to acquire data to determine their cause of death.

The St. Catherines Science Education Model  The St. Catherines Sea Turtle Conservation Program integrates teaching, research, and service into a holistic field program where each intern is intensively trained and mentored in scientific methodology and processes in nature’s classroom. The intent is to use this program to instruct educators in a way which will result in their transferring information on conservation of endangered species and critical habitat to each successive class they teach. We also anticipate teachers will see projects in their teaching areas which they can develop to use in teaching their school children about conservation, science, and mathematics.

Transferring the Model  Sea turtle interns carry their experience and expertise back into their schools to share with colleagues and students. This transference of content and scientific process acts to educate future generations about the importance of conservation of endangered species and establishes the credibility of the teacher intern in his/her classroom. Each teacher teaches new students each year, so the cumulative effect is that students for many years will be impacted by a single teacher, compounding our investment in the St. Catherines Sea Turtle Conservation Program. Pre-service education majors are seen teaching peers and their professors on Middle Grades Cumberland Fieldtrip, October 6, 1994, disseminating content, scientific process, and methodology acquired during St. Catherines Sea Turtle internship.

Sea Turtle Intern Projects  Interns in the St. Catherines Sea Turtle Conservation Program have completed several Island-based projects during their stay on St. Catherines. Projects are designed and executed by individual Interns to enhance their classroom or career. They have included shell collections, slide show productions of the Wildlife Survival Center, teaching units, and a brief history of St. Catherines Island.