Turtle patrol preparing for nesting season on Georgia coast

CUMBERLAND ISLAND - Sea turtle nesting season begins in early May and biologist Mark Dodd is going to extremes to train volunteers in his effort to save the endangered species from extinction. <br> <br> At a recent session to show his students what to look for, Dodd lay on his back and began crawling, imitating the distinctive pattern left by sea turtles that come out of the Atlantic Ocean to lay their eggs on the beach at Cumberland Island on Georgia&#39;s coast. <br> <br> The nesting season runs through October. Dodd, a state Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist, predicted that this year&#39;s nesting season should produce more than the below average 853 nests laid last year on all of Georgia&#39;s barrier islands. <br> <br> Dodd said, ``This should be a pretty good year on all the barrier islands. It&#39;s one of the main nesting areas in the state.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Andy Ferguson, acting chief of resources on Cumberland Island, said the program is necessary because as few as one in one-thousand hatchlings will survive until adulthood. <br> <br> Dodd said his turtle imitation shows the volunteers what to look for on their daily turtle patrols once the nesting season begins.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/195276