2026 Nesting Season is Over -- Our Second Best Season
posted: October 5, 2026, 9:21 AM
Thank you to our wonderful, dedicated volunteers, our community supporters, and the sponsors of our new Nest Sponsor Program. We can finally sit back and celebrate a very successful and busy year with a remarkable number of nests. There is no doubt that this was a remarkable year for sea turtle nesting on the East Coast. The 2026 season was the second-highest season in the history of our Holden Beach Turtle Patrol, which was established in 1989.
Our record-setting year was 2019, when DNA results reflected 52 individual females laid 105 nests. The females laid an average of two nests each, and one female laid six nests on our beach. That year, a total of 11,964 eggs were laid, 8,107 live hatchlings emerged, and the nest success rate was 68%.
This year, we had a total of 78 nests laid, a total of 9,092 eggs, and 7,216 live hatchlings emerged, and our nest success rate was 81%. This year’s nest success may have been due to the absence of foxes, bad storms, and extremely high tides. Our nest success may also have benefited from the relocation of many nests that were laid below or in the middle of escarpment created by beach erosion. Our last nest was laid on August 9, but North Carolina saw many green turtle nests laid very late in the season after our last nest. Oak Island had the last nest in the state – a green sea turtle nest laid on September 28. Whew, that was close! It should be interesting to see our 2026 DNA results after they are compiled later this year and learn how many individual females laid nests here.
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