- May 3, 2024
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A rare leatherback hatchling was rescued by the Turtle Patrol from the bottom of a three-foot nest Sunday night.
Ryan Lochte has nothing on this little guy.
One hatchling, named Ryan after the Olympic swimming star, was recovered from a nest of an endangered leatherback sea turtle Sunday, July 29, in Flagler Beach. Turtle Patrol volunteers Dale and Peach Hench performed the excavation. Dale Hench found the live hatchling, as well as two dead hatchings, five pipped dead, 27 unhatched, and shell remains of 68 successfully hatched turtles — as he lay on his stomach and reached three feet down into the hole.
“It amazes all of us how they get out,” Dale Hench said. “We found some dead ones near the surface. They were healthy enough to get to the surface, but fire ants got to them. Fire ants are the biggest predators of hatchlings in this area.”
The nest was adopted by Debbie Freeman, who had the privilege of naming Ryan. More than 100 people crowded around the staked-off area and lined the stretch of Highway A1A to get a peek at the rare find. It was the first of just three leatherback nests that have been found in Flagler County this year. By comparison, more than 400 loggerhead nests have been found.
Based on the depth of the nest and the width of the tracks that were originally observed from the mother, Dale Hench estimated that the mother weighed about 500 pounds.
After the excavation, Ryan was brought to within 20 feet of the shore in an ice cooler. He was rinsed off and then placed facing the water. The crowd cheered, and children peeked through their parents’ legs for a good view of the hatchling, which was the size of a child’s palm, until the foam and the waves pulled Ryan into the wild ocean for good.
