Sea turtle nesting season is underway along the coast of South Carolina

Sea turtle nesting season is still underway along the coast of South Carolina and usually runs from May through August.  Two significant nesting areas for the sea turtles within this Atlantic Coast region are Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and a couple of islands in the ACE Basin.  The Nature Conservancy has worked with our local partners to establish a presence in each of these nursery areas.

Botany Bay Island, located in the ACE Basin, is the yearly nesting site for approximately 50 to 100 sea turtles. The nests are screened to protect them from raccoon predation. The result is that 3,000 to 10,000 sea turtles hatch on the island annually.  Learn more about the ACE Basin.

Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge is located along the coast of Charleston County, adjacent to the Francis Marion National Forest and is the nesting site of 25 – 35% of the nests laid in South Carolina in a given year.  Check out the Turtle Hatchling Video.

 CRNWR has contributed more to productivity (how many hatchlings you put in the water) which is more important than nesting effort, than any beach north of Cape Canaveral, FL.  CRNWR has produced 2,295,886 hatchlings with nest management in place. Without nest management, 201,354 hatchlings would have been produced.

A few simple things to remember that will help the survival of sea turtles:

• Pickup litter - balloons, cigarette butts and plastic bags can cause turtle mortality
• Watch out for sea turtles when driving a motor boat
• If you live near the coast, be aware of your house lights during turtle nesting season, they can confuse the turtles in their return to the ocean