At Pawleys Island, volunteers scout the coast each morning during nesting season, looking for nests laid the night before.  If found, the eggs (shaped like ping-pong balls) are moved — one egg at a time, in the reverse order of how they were laid, with the same orientation in which the mother turtle placed them.

I was told that even with the careful attention to digging, moving, and replacing, most hatchlings never make it to life in the sea.  Some are snatched up by predators; some can’t find their way.  But the volunteers feel strongly that if one turtle survives due to the salvage efforts, the work will have been worth it.

My entry for the Weekly Photo Challenge: One (seen above) is the last turtle egg to be placed carefully in the bottom of a bucket.  Along with the others, this one egg will be toted down the beach and moved to a safer spot.

Ah, the power of one.

To see more entries in the Weekly Photo Challenge: One, go here.