Officials announce first loggerhead sea turtle nests found on 3 Georgia islands

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The nests reported over the weekend were found by the Caretta Research Project on Wassaw, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Blackbeard and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll.

State officials said both Blackbeard and Wassaw islands are national wildlife refuges.

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“It’s like clockwork,” Georgia Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Mark Dodd said of the turtles’ annual return to lay eggs on beaches along the Southeast. “They’re usually right around the first of May.”

Dodd said computer modeling shows nesting in 2024 will be low to medium in terms of productivity.

However, DNR noted that they also expected low to medium activity last year, but instead logged more than 3,400 nests.

“Although a drop-off from the record 4,071 nests in 2022 – the most since comprehensive surveys on all of the state’s barrier island beaches began in 1989 – the 2023 count was more than twice the 35-year average and exceeded the recovery goal of 2,800 nests a year, a target set in the National Marine Fisheries Service/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan for the federally protected turtles,” DNR said in a statement.

The loggerhead population has increased by about 4% yearly since the early 1990s, officials said.

“Last summer’s nests included more than 290,000 eggs and yielded some 159,000 hatchlings,” according to the state.

To help protect the species, Georgia DNR recommends:

• Minimize beachfront lighting during sea turtle nesting season. Turn off, shield or redirect lights.
• When walking the beach at night, don’t use flashlights and flash photography. They can deter turtles from coming ashore to nest or cause them to abort nesting.
• If you encounter a sea turtle on the beach, remain quiet, still and at a distance.
• Leave turtle tracks undisturbed. Researchers use them to identify the species and mark nests for protection.
• Properly dispose of your garbage. Turtles may mistake plastic bags, Styrofoam and trash floating in the water as food. After ingesting trash, it can kill them by clogging their intestines.
• Protect beach vegetation: It stabilizes sand and the natural coastline.
• When boating, stay alert and avoid turtles. Of the 72 sea turtles found dead or hurt in Georgia last year, 24 percent that could be assessed had suffered injuries consistent with being hit by a boat. Boaters who hit a sea turtle are urged to stand-by and immediately call DNR at 800-2-SAVE-ME (800-272-8363).
• Also report any dead or injured sea turtles seen at 800-272-8363. (If the turtle is tagged, include the tag color and number in the report if possible.)

You can learn more about the loggerhead sea turtle here.

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