Leanna McMillan – Staff Naturalist South Carolina’s official sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1st to October 1st each year. The first nesting reported in South Carolina this year was laid on April 30th at Lighthouse Is- land within the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. In 2019, Hilton Head Island was the first to see a nest in South Carolina and Hilton Head also saw the last baby turtle in the state to emerge in the fall. Momma turtles lay around 120 eggs per nest and the eggs take around 60 days to incubate and begin to hatch in July through October. In 2019, South Carolina had a record-breaking season in which sea turtles laid the greatest number of nests ever recorded. Volunteers and biologists counted 8,802 nests in South Carolina, which represented a 37% increase over the previous record set in 2016. We have four different types of sea turtles who nest in South Carolina; Loggerheads, Greens, Leather- backs, and the rare Kemp’s Ridleys. The most common to nest in South Carolina is the Loggerhead sea turtle. While you may be lucky enough to see a sea turtle feeding in the Okatee River, sea turt- les only nest on oceanfront beaches. Please be sure to keep an eye out for them while you are out boating, sea turtles are very vulnerable to boat strikes. Also, I am sure that many of you may be visiting the beach during this nesting season so below are some tips for helping protect the sea turtles while enjoying the beach:
TIPS FOR PROTECTING NESTING SEA TURTLES TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF FILL IN HOLES PICK UP TRASH DO NOT WALK IN TURTLE TRACKS KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM SEA TURTLES Never disturb a sea turtle nest, a nesting sea turtle or a hatchling. To report any of these please call the SC Department of Natural Resources Hotline: 1-800-922-5431