Lucky Visitors

posted: June 6, 2016, 4:23 PM

Saturday night June 4 was an exciting night on Holden Beach! Visitors walking the beach at dusk were treated to a sight not seen my many--a mother turtle laying her eggs. They called our "turtle emergency" number and members of our stranding team joined them on the beach to watch. While the stranding team was at this first nest (#6) they got a call from another vacationer--there was another mother laying eggs (nest #7). The next morning turtle patrol members found the eggs for both nests. Nest 6 was in a good location and the team covered it with a grate and left it in place (# eggs unknown). Nest #7 was moved back onto the dunes ---there were 119 eggs. These nests are expected to hatch near the end of July.

If you're lucky to see a mother turtle on the beach, please call our stranding team. Also, please do not take flash photos--this may surprise the mother!

These photos are from nest #6 on Sunday morning with the excited vacationers from Richmond, VA that saw the mother the night before. The second photos shows how the nest was grated and marked by patrol members.

Go To News Index Page