2026 Sea Turtle Nesting Season Update
2026 Sea Turtle Nesting Season Update
May 15th, 2026: Just as the sun spilled over the horizon, the Conservancy’s Sea Turtle Protection Team (STPT) rolled over access 42 with excited minds and tired eyes. Scanning the high tide line for tracks and displaced sand, they were intent on locating any signs of sea turtle nesting activity from the night before.
Then, just north of the access, sand was being thrown around by what seemingly looked like a moving rock. “That’s a turtle!”exclaimed the Conservancy’s Sea Turtle Biologist. The team quickly gathered all necessary supplies and calmly approached the nesting loggerhead female. They determined that she had completed oviposition (egg laying) and was covering/camouflaging her nest, front flippers flinging sand over the freshly laid clutch while her rear flippers compacted the sand to protect the clutch. After locating identification tags, the team was able to determine that the turtle in front of them was a Legacy turtle named Sandy, a familiar face on East Beach! This marked Sandy’s 11th nesting season on BHI since being first observed in May of 2002. With data collection complete, the team sat and watched in silent amazement as the sun continued to rise and Sandy finished covering her freshly laid eggs (for some, their first time observing a nesting sea turtle).
Sandy on BHI (May 15, 2026)
Sea turtles have a way of reminding us of nature’s beauty and persistence. Sandy is proof, 11 nesting seasons across 24 years on this same stretch of beach. That morning set the tone for what turned out to be a thrilling, intense, fast-paced season that was highlighted by an incredibly driven & hard-working STPT!
September 26th, 2026: Over the course of the 2026 season the STPT patrolled for 144 days (71 being full nights), recording 129 nests and 173 false crawls (when a female turtle emerges from the ocean and returns without laying a nest). They identified at least 48 unique individuals, 47 loggerheads and 1 green sea turtle. All 129 nests were laid by loggerheads, while the lone green turtle false crawled twice in the same night and did not return. Not only did the STPT observe Sandy’s return to the island, they recorded the return of 11 other Legacy turtles (turtles who consistently nest on BHI): Billie, FancyNancy, Gigi, Granny, Lee Ann, Sara, Scarlett, Thomasina, Timber, Tucker, & Turquoise! These 12 individuals were responsible for laying 47 nests, over one third (36.4%) of the total nests laid this season. To date: 126 nests have hatched, sending more than 11,000 hatchlings into the ocean; with an overall hatch success of 81% and emergence success of 79%. Only one nest was lost this season, washed out by a King Tide event in June, and two nests remain active on the beach!
We would like to send a massive thank you to our 2026 Sea Turtle Protection Team: Olivia Bowers, EJ Britt, Julia Serra & Carolina Kornegay and our dedicated team of volunteer Nest Monitors!
Hatchlings from the 2026 season and the 2026 STPT (from left to right: Olivia Bowers, EJ Britt, Julia Serra & Carolina Kornegay)
