Nesting Season Begins

On May 19th, the first sea turtle for Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) of the 2018 nesting season chose a beach on Ocracoke Island to lay her eggs. In 45-55 days, tiny Loggerhead sea turtles will break through their shells, embark on a night time journey across the beach, and start living in their new home – the Atlantic Ocean.

The park’s beaches have been monitored for sea turtle nests since 1987. Nest numbers have fluctuated greatly in the last 30 years with the fewest in 1987 at eleven and a peak of 325 in 2016. There were 250 nests last year.

There are five species of sea turtles found along the Seashore - the Leatherback, Hawksbill (rarely seen), Kemp's ridley, Loggerhead and Green. While all five of these sea turtle species can be found in Seashore waters throughout the year, it is the female Loggerhead and Green turtles—and occasional leatherback and Kemp's ridley turtles—that nest on these beaches, which are considered to be the northern limits of their nesting grounds. Hawksbills were documented nesting on Cape Hatteras for the first time in 2015, with two nests laid by a single female.

Additional information about sea turtles can be found at:

https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/nature/seaturtles.htm.