Volunteers Geared Up for Loggerhead Nesting Season

We are in the midst of an active loggerhead turtle season! Since August 20, 2009, Kiawah Island has been home to 125 loggerhead turtle nests. A group of dedicated volunteers, known as the "Turtle Patrol," are already busy protecting these nests and ensuring that hatchlings have the best odds of making it safely into the Atlantic.

In 1978, the loggerhead sea turtle was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In an effort to restore the turtle population, Kiawah created the Turtle Program.  Every year since 1973, volunteers have been monitoring nesting efforts on our beaches to help protect the imperiled turtle. Data shows that these volunteers are making a difference. The hatch rate for turtles on the East Coast without human intervention ranges from one to three percent. With weekend human intervention, the hatch rate increases to between five and seven percent.

Turtle season at Kiawah officially began May 15 and ends October 31. During this time, volunteers record data about the nests and hatchlings, and this information is reported to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. When nesting begins in May, volunteers are up early each morning searching for nests on the beach. They mark and record where they find each nest and carefully relocate the nests that are in danger of being washed over by the tide or are in heavy human traffic areas.

When nests begin to hatch, numerous groups of volunteers patrol sections of the beach daily to check for emergence of hatchlings. At some point after hatching, each nest is excavated and an inventory is taken of its contents.

Our volunteers are specially trained to work with turtles, so please do not approach or disturb nesting, and remember that lights illuminating the beachfront must be turned off after 9:00 p.m. during the turtle nesting season. Female loggerheads are quite wary when they come ashore to nest and can be easily frightened or disoriented by lights or loud noises.

If you have questions about Kiawah’s turtles or would like to volunteer with the Turtle Patrol, please contact the Town of Kiawah or visit their website here.