Tropical Storm Barry took a toll on Dauphin Island’s sea turtle season, washing away 21 nests near Katrina Cut as the storm pushed water over the barrier island, according to the volunteer group Share the Beach Dauphin Island.
In a Facebook post, the group said the western tip of the island had been cut off by the storm, leaving volunteers unable to even reach the two westernmost nests to assess them. A dead sea turtle was also discovered on the west end of the island near Katrina Cut.
The loss is significant for a barrier island that typically hosts a few dozen nests each summer. Alabama’s sea turtle nesting season runs from May through October, with loggerhead and green sea turtles among the species that lay clutches in the beach sand before the hatchlings emerge weeks later.
Recovery efforts are already underway. Share the Beach volunteers resumed daily patrols looking for newly laid nests, and there was encouraging news elsewhere on the coast: the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, on the Fort Morgan peninsula, recorded a new nest the same day.