My first trips to Cape Island were with Sarah Dawsey, then refuge biologist, to help with the construction of loggerhead turtle hatcheries in 2005. The scale of this part of the refuge is considerable larger than the Bull Island area, my home waters. These trips in 2005 through the extensive marshes and across Cape Romain harbor to Cape Island oriented me in preparation for my sailing voyages out of McClellanville starting in January of 2006. I have returned in April of each year to build these hatcheries, working with a great group of staff and volunteers. Along with the other volunteers, I have had the opportunity to spend several nights on Cape Island with staff to complete the usual loggerhead program tasks, and to observe the dual phenomenon of females climbing the beach to dig their nests and lay eggs, and emerging hatchlings scurrying toward the ocean. I have included some photos below from several of those nights.
