2019 is Banner Year for Sea Turtles in North Carolina

Loggerhead hatchling image by WBSTP volunteer Cassandra Diemer

In southeastern North Carolina, sea turtle nesting season lasts from mid-May until the end of August. As the season draws to a close, volunteer organizations are tallying up the nest counts and celebrating a banner year.

As of August 22, volunteers have located a total of 2,309 nests across the state. To read more about this amazing summer of nesting, click here to read a full story in the News & Observer.

Wrightsville Beach has also experienced a successful year of nesting, with a total of 10 loggerhead nests.

The 2018 Sea Turtle Nesting Season in North Carolina Has Begun

Nesting loggerhead photo by Alison Graves at Oak Island, NC, on May 10, 2018.

 

The month of May kicked off the official start of sea turtle nesting season in North Carolina. During the months of May, June, July, and August, sea turtles will crawl ashore along the coast of North Carolina to lay their nests. A nesting mother will nest as many as five times in one summer and lay approximately 100 eggs in each nest.

Remember these tips for help keep our beaches safe for nesting mother sea turtles:

  • Turn off or cover ocean-facing lights after dark. Sea turtles dig the dark.
  • Never leave litter, beach chairs, tents, umbrellas, or other items on the beach. These items become entrapment, choking, and entanglement hazards to sea turtles.
  • Re-fill any holes you dig at the beach. Sea turtles are great swimmers but crawling on sand is difficult and they cannot easily dig themselves out of a hole.
  • If you see a nesting sea turtle, do not approach or disturb her. A frightened sea turtle will crawl back into the ocean without laying her eggs.
  • If you see a stranded or injured sea turtle anywhere in North Carolina, call 252-241-7367. This is a state-wide turtle emergency number.
  • If you see a stranded or injured sea turtle in Wrightsville Beach, call 833-4-TURTLE. This is our emergency hotline.
  • For tips on how to recognize nesting sea turtle tracks, please click here.

Thanks for helping us make 2018 a successful nesting season for the turtles!

The Gimme Five Challenge

Happy May, y’all! This month marks the beginning of sea turtle nesting season in North Carolina! Woo-hoo! To start off the 2018 nesting season with a bang, we would like to introduce our first-ever online challenge: The Gimme Five Challenge!The rules of the challenge are simple:

Either pick of five pieces of litter in 30 seconds

-or-

Donate five bucks to the Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project

You can pick up litter at the beach, at your school, in the grocery store parking lot, while walking your dog around the block– anywhere you are!

-or-

You can donate five bucks to the WBSTP. We are a registered 501 c(3) nonprofit organization. We have no paid employees, so all of your donation (minus the 2.9% Paypal fee) goes toward sea turtle protection and conservation efforts. You can make a secure donation using the “Donate” link at the top of the page.

Why does picking up litter matter to sea turtles? Something as small as a plastic cup can become a death trap for a sea turtle hatchling. Litter poses a threat not just to sea turtles, but to all wildlife that can ingest litter or become entangled in it. By picking up litter, you are leading by example and helping to make our world a safer, cleaner, and more beautiful place.

So will you take the Gimme Five challenge? Share your results with us and tag them #gimmefive

The fine print: The WBSTP will provide no goods or services for donations. The WBSTP does not receive your personal financial information through Paypal. The WBSTP will not sell or distribute your name, email address, or any other information provided by Paypal.