The first four sea turtle nests of the 2025 nesting season were laid in each of the three Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) districts this past week.
On May 13, a loggerhead nest was discovered on Ocracoke Island, and on May 19, two loggerhead nests were found on Hatteras Island, and one was found south of Ramp 4 within the Bodie Island section of the National Seashore.
Last year, the first sea turtle nest of the season was found in Frisco on May 13, 2024. This timeframe is also similar to previous years, when the first sea turtle nests were all discovered on Ocracoke Island on May 12, 2023, on May 20, 2022, and on May 14, 2021.
All of the first nests in the past five years came from loggerhead sea turtles.
Sea turtle nests have been monitored at CHNS since the 1970s. In 2019, a new record of 473 nests was set, but 2024 was a busy year as well, with 303 total nests, marking the sixth-highest number of nests reported since data collection began.
The top three years for sea turtle nesting activity at CHNS have all occurred within the past six years, and are as follows:
- 2019 – 473 nests
- 2022 – 379 nests
- 2023 – 378 nests
The high number of sea turtle nests in recent years appears to be a multiple-year trend along the Eastern Seaboard, according to data from seaturtle.org, which monitors sea turtle nests around the globe.
Due to the recent active nesting seasons, visitors are advised to be aware of sea turtle nesting activity or hatchlings when visiting the local beaches on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. If you see turtle tracks, nesting activity, or hatchlings, please notify park biologists by calling 252-216-6892.
In the meantime, visitors can find out more about local sea turtles along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore at https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/nature/seaturtles.htm.
