L. Todd Spencer's favorite photograph for 2008

I have worked for the last two years with the Back Bay biologists who help protect local sea turtle populations. Each season, they monitor nests along the Virginia coastline. When Tropical Storm Hanna threatened a loggerhead sea turtle nest in the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach, the biologists decided to excavate the nest. Under the sand, there we re more than 20 hatchlings, which were released immediately. Hatchlings usually emerge during the night. Previously, I had photographed them using only red filters. This time I enjoyed the rare opportunity of photographing them in daylight. Here, one makes its way to the ocean.