If you see a nesting, injured, or dead sea turtle/hatchling on the beach, call our Wildlife Emergency Hotline 910-457-0089 x 5
Bald Head Island Conservancy
Sea Turtle Protection Program
At the Bald Head Island Conservancy, our Sea Turtle Protection Program utilizes saturation tagging to intercept and identify every nesting turtle that comes onto our beaches. Our team conducts nightly patrols from 9PM to 6AM and deploys a range of techniques when encountering a turtle, including applying a passive integrated transponder (PIT), attaching a flipper tag, collecting a DNA sample, and taking both straight and curved carapace measurements. All the data we gather is recorded in our historical database, which spans over 40 years and provides a wealth of information on individual sea turtles that have visited Bald Head Island.
This rigorous tagging program allows us to gather valuable insights into the health and behavior of these endangered species. By closely monitoring sea turtle populations, our scientists can better understand how these creatures are responding to environmental changes and adapt conservation efforts accordingly. Join us in our mission to protect and preserve these magnificent creatures and their habitats.
Efforts to protect sea turtles on Bald Head Island date back to 1980. Since its founding in 1983, the BHI 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. Bald Head Island has been designated as an “index beach” by NMFS, making our sea turtle nesting activity and Protection Program nationally recognized.
After the nesting female returns to the ocean, our interns protect the nest from predation by burying a protective mesh cage around the nest - preventing raccoons, foxes, and dogs from entering the nest, while allowing the hatchlings to later emerge unimpeded. Before the use of mesh cages became standard practice on Bald Head, predation resulted in a high nest mortality.
Three days after a nest hatches, the Sea Turtle Protection Team and volunteer nest monitors excavate the nest. This serves two purposes: to take an inventory of the nest, and to release any “stragglers” that may still be in the egg chamber. An inventory is taken so that we can determine success rates of the mothers. We do this by counting the number of empty eggshells found and comparing it to the number of unhatched eggs. Sometimes, there are still live hatchlings in the nest, which we will release on the beach so they can make it to the ocean.
On our beaches, we typically see loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), and occasionally green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). We have had a total of 37 green sea turtle nests, the first being in 1992. We’ve also been fortunate enough to document one leatherback nest in 2010 and one Kemp’s Ridley nest in 2020.
All seven species of sea turtles worldwide are either critically threatened or endangered, which is what makes protecting nesting mothers and hatchlings so important!
Three days after a nest hatches, Conservancy staff will excavate the nest to take an inventory of the eggs and release any hatchlings that are still inside.
Shop at Turtle Central for a red flashlight or red turtle sticker for your phone or handheld device. Turtles are disoriented by white light, but can’t see red light!
Fill in holes on the beach and pack up your beach equipment. Turtles can easily fall into holes or run into your beach gear if left overnight!
Always remember your reusable shopping bags to help reduce the use of plastic.
Join the Sea Turtle Protection Program Team
College Students or Recent Grads: Apply to become a Sea Turtle Intern! Visit our Job Openings page for available internship opportunities
Families: Adopt-a-Nest! Visit our Adopt-A-Program page for more information. Become a Nest Monitor! Email us at volunteer@bhic.org for more information
Sea Turtle Protection Program
Annual Statistics & Reports
2024 Sea Turtle Protection Program
2024 Nesting Season Executive Summary
*All data subject to change.
While the 2024 nesting season brought below-average numbers, the Bald Head Island Conservancy’s (BHIC) Sea Turtle Protection Team (STPT; Figure 1) is thrilled to report that no eggs were lost to mammalian predation – the second time this milestone has been achieved in the past three seasons! The STPT patrolled the beaches of BHI for 184 days/nights (58 dawn, 58 partial nights, and 68 full nights), observing 73 nests, of which 36 (49.3%) were relocated, and 64 false crawls; with the first activity on 16 May and the last on 1 August. All activities were determined to be loggerhead (Caretta caretta), with at least 32 genetically distinct individual females were responsible for the 137 nesting activities observed. The STPT also observed the return of 2 legacy turtles (Claire & Emily) and named 2 new legacy turtles (Kai & Mamo). The first hatching event was observed on 17 July, while the last nest was excavated on 29 October. The average incubation time for the 73 nests was 57.6 days. Approximately 7,689 eggs were laid on BHI, with an estimated 6,100 hatchlings making it to the water. Mean hatch success was 80.5%, while mean emerge success was 78.2%. Our most productive mom was, Mamo, who laid 670 eggs that produced 580 hatchlings. Our most successful mom was RRZ271, with a hatch success of 95.3 and an emergence success of 94.6%. With a highly active Atlantic hurricane season, BHI was fortunate to have lost only one full nest to Potential Topical Cyclone 8. However, roughly 10 additional nests were impacted by inundation from a combination of hurricanes, tropical storms, and king tides.
Additionally, the Conservancy deployed two new satellite tags, one of which was in collaboration with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD. A rehabilitated juvenile loggerhead named Madison was outfitted with a tag released from Fort Fisher State Recreation Area’s beach. The Conservancy also tagged a neophyte named FFX385 (Figure 2) during the nesting season. Unlike the four individuals tagged in 2023, FFX385 headed south, through the Straits of Florida, settling down to forage on the west coast of Florida about 20-30 miles off Marco Island. In contrast, the four turtles tagged in 2023 headed north to forage from the Capes of North Carolina to Atlantic City, NJ (Figure 3).
All sea turtle monitoring and research performed pursuant to North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Endangered Species Permit #24ST14. Visit www.bhic.org for more details on the Sea Turtle Protection Program and how you can support the sea turtles of BHI.
