Efforts to protect the habitats and activities of sea turtles on Bald Head Island go back to 1980. Since its inception in 1983, the Bald Head Island Conservancy has coordinated and sponsored the Sea Turtle Protection Program, in cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service. As one of NMFS's "index beaches", Bald Head Island is nationally recognized for its sea turtle nesting activity, and for the Conservancy's efforts to protect this resource.The majority of the sea turtles that nest on our beaches are loggerheads (Caretta caretta), but we will occasionally see the Atlantic green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas).

Each summer, the Conservancy funds and houses six interns to conduct field work for the Sea Turtle Protection Program, under the direction of our island naturalist. The interns are typically undergraduates majoring in natural resource related fields. This internship opportunity is both unique and demanding. The interns not only conduct nightly patrols of the beach, but also experience the full range of job functions associated with running a small nonprofit organization.

The majority of an intern’s summer is spent patrolling for nesting sea turtles from dusk until dawn on an all terrain vehicle. BHIC is the only NGO in North Carolina permitted to flipper tag nesting female sea turtles. Saturation tagging, tagging every possible female, provides a census of all nesting females. Very few other beaches conduct tagging studies as demanding. Data collected from nesting sea turtles includes GPS nest locations; flipper tag data; PIT tagging and straight and curved line carapace dimensions.

After the nesting female returns to the ocean, interns protect the nest from predation by burying a protective mesh cage around the nest thus preventing raccoons, foxes, and dogs from disturbing the nest, while allowing the hatchlings to emerge unimpeded. Before the use of mesh cages became standard practice on Bald Head, predation resulted in a nest mortality of approximately 50%. This has been reduced in recent years and is one of the most successful beaches against nest predation.

Nests laid in a sub-optimal location may be relocated to a safer location. Eggs may be in danger if they are laid below or close to the high tide line, in an area of high foot traffic, or of low sand quality. A nest can be relocated within the first six hours after it was laid, which is facilitated by our intensive beach patrolling.

As our interns return to school in mid-August, the island sea turtle naturalist assumes patrol duties to monitor nesting activity and emerging hatchlings. Since the incubation time for sea turtles in our locale is approximately sixty days, Bald Head hosts sea turtle hatching events from late July through mid-October.

After a nest has hatched, or if the nest is overdue, it will be excavated to determine nesting success. Success is determined by counting the number of eggs that successfully hatched vs. the total in the nest. This is evident by the number of empty eggs left in the nest along with the number of unhatched eggs. Frequently, viable hatchlings are rescued and released on the beach so they can make their way to the ocean.

Adult female loggerheads that visit BHI to nest are at least 20 to 35 years old, and weigh anywhere from 150 to 350 pounds. They come ashore to nest after dark from mid-May to mid-August.

The female crawls up on the beach, usually to the base of the primary dune. If she finds suitable dry sand, she uses her back flippers to dig a nest cavity that will be 18 to 24 inches deep.

The nest cavity is shaped like an upside down light bulb, and will hold between 60 and 160 ping-pong ball-shaped eggs.

When she is satisfied with the nest cavity, she starts having contractions and will lay eggs, two or three at a time. The laying process takes approximately 30 minutes, during which she is in a trance-like state and almost oblivious to her surroundings. It is during this time that we tag and measure the female turtle.

Loggerhead eggs resemble soft ping pong balls. They are soft to survive the drop into the nest cavity. They are semi-permeable, which means the embryo in the egg can drown if inundated with water. This can result from natural storm events such as hurricanes or spring tides.

When the female finishes depositing the eggs into the nest cavity, she covers the nest and goes to great lengths to disguise its location. Predators of the nest include raccoons, foxes, dogs and ghost crabs.

Exhausted from the nesting process, the female returns to the ocean and has no further contact with her offspring. Each female can lay up to 7 clutches of eggs during one summer, resulting in almost 800 eggs! Because each female lays so many eggs in one summer, she usually takes a year or two off before returning to BHI to lay more eggs.

The hatchlings emerge from the nest 50-65 days after being laid. They emerge from their eggs using their pointy "egg tooth." The egg tooth is attached to the tip of the turtle’s beak and strong enough to break through the eggshell. It takes the strength of all the turtles in the nest to push their way through the sand. When the nest finally hatches, it’s referred to as a "boil" because the sand is overflowing with little turtles. The turtles hatch out of the sand at night to avoid predation by birds. Once they are out of the nest they crawl to the ocean.

Once in the ocean the hatchlings go into a "swimming frenzy" and swim for 24 to 48 hours before stopping. The goal is to reach the Sargasso Sea, or North Atlantic Gyre. Once in this current, the turtles can passively float. The current will take these turtles all the way to the West coast of Africa. The juvenile turtles will live off the coast of Africa for approximately 12-15 years. After this time, the turtles return to the East coast of the United States and continue to grow until they reach sexual maturity.

Baby Sea Turtles	August Boil
	Photo by Jim Wisner
	Loggerhead with tracking device
Hatchling	Interns placing cage on nest