The first sea turtle nest of the 2024 season was found near Frisco on Saturday, May 11, by National Park Service (NPS) biologists, per an update from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS).
CHNS biologists determined that the nest came from a Loggerhead sea turtle, and the nest has been marked off to protect it until the sea turtle eggs hatch in approximately two months.
Last year, the first sea turtle nest of the season was found on Ocracoke Island on May 12, 2023. This timeframe is also similar to 2022, 2021, and 2020, when the first sea turtle nests were discovered on Ocracoke Island on May 20, 2022, on Ocracoke on May 14, 2021, and in Buxton on May 17, 2020. 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 2023 boasted the second-highest number of nests reported since data collection began, with 380 total nests reported within the National Seashore.
According to CHNS, A few other records were broken in 2023, too:
- Highest number of Green turtle nests recorded in a nesting season (52).
- First successful Leatherback nest hatch since 2007.
- Highest number of false crawls recorded (456).
- Latest sea turtle nest found for the seashore and the state (December 3, 2023)
The high number of sea turtle nests in recent years appears to be a multiple-year trend all along the Eastern Seaboard, according to data from seaturtle.org, which actively monitors sea turtle nests all around the globe.
Due to the recent highly-active nesting seasons, visitors are advised to be aware of sea turtle nesting activity or hatchlings while 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 keep tabs on nesting activity at shorelines all around the world at http://www.seaturtle.org, and can find out more about local sea turtles at https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/nature/seaturtles.htm.
