The Hilton Head Homes Blog

During May through October, Hilton Head Island excitingly welcomes hundreds of sea turtles each nesting season!

For this reason, we ask our residents and visitors to help protect this endangered species. 

In a perfect setting, with ideal conditions, Hilton Head Island’s most common marine turtle, the loggerhead, comes ashore about every 18 days during nesting season. She lays 80 to 120 eggs into a freshly made nest nearly two feet deep. Under the warm, dry sand, the round eggs incubate for an average of 50 days.  The two-inch hatchlings dig together to travel to the surface of the nest. The newborns rely on their instincts, moonlight, and even magnetic fields to guide them. They squirm, crawl and wiggle as quickly as their new little flippers will take them to start their exciting new life in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Unfortunately, sea turtles face many manufactured hazards, predators, and weather conditions that significantly limit their survival.

Hilton Head Island is a caring community and a unique piece of paradise where nature and man share our tropical beach. New beach regulations and dedicated volunteers make a difference. Please share this with all beachgoers to help everyone remember a few simple steps that can save one shell at a time!  

Turtle Trackers turtletrackershhi.org  walk the beaches to fill in holes and remove any debris that may inhibit a hatchling from making its way to the ocean. Plastic bags are mistaken for jellyfish by the turtles and can be deadly. String and fishing line can cause suffocation if a turtle becomes entangled. 

A refreshing beach walk at night during nesting season is a perfect time to view a sea turtle from a distance, but a white light, including camera flashes, will scare the turtles. A LED red light is the recommended portable option. The Westin Resort has film on its beachfront windows to dim the artificial lighting. 

Nature also adds to the list of unsuccessful nest or hatchlings deaths. A severe storm or high tide can wash away nests, and the eggs cannot survive in the water. Up to 90% of the eggs and hatchlings are a food source for raccoons, seabirds, ghost crabs, and even fire ants. Cats and dogs are also known to eat eggs and hatchlings in some areas. 

Any disturbance can result in a false crawl; this is where the sea turtle begins her crawl to nest but turns around without depositing her eggs. If a sea turtle is prohibited for any reason from nesting safely onshore within two days, she is forced to forfeit her eggs and deposit them into the sea. 

Hilton Head Island preserves our beautiful beaches for all our visitors, including the sea turtle. We encourage you to follow the town’s beach regulations so that we may all enjoy this amazing marine reptile for years to come! 

Contributed by Janice Magnin

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