On a one nest a day pace Number 219 this morning The picture(s) were taken by permitted volunteers under permits 2026-MTP537 and 2026-MTP565. Following all rules and guidelines.only permitted individuals are allowed to engage in sea turtle conservation activities.

Photo taken by permitted volunteers under Permits MTP 537 & MTP 565 In Zone 4 the 218th nest was found today. Wow! Zone 1 and Zone 2 both had a NNE in there Zone. Busy and interesting time of year!

Added 1 nest today , raise our nest total to 217. Nesting is slowing down , As it normally does this time of year The picture(s) were taken by permitted volunteers under permits 2026-MTP537 and 2026-MTP565. Following all rules and guidelines.only permitted individuals are allowed to engage in sea turtle conservation activities.

We have one more record to break this year, 78 for July in 2023. With 3 nests today, 2 in zone 3 and 1 in zone 5LH we are on pace to do 74. One NNC in zone 3 and a couple of nests hatched. The pictures were taken by permitted volunteers under permit 2024-MTP537 & 2024 -MTP565, Following all rules and guidelines. Only permitted individuals are allowed to engage in sea turtle conservation activities.

Aloha Thursday Turtle tracks traffic Turtle track traffic coming and going everywhere. (A tongue twister turtle track traffic 😜) Today we welcomed nest 213 in Z2. We also had a NNC in Z2 and Z1. Several emergences on our early nests. Babies are crawling out and heading to their adventures in the big blue ocean. Swim baby turtles swim!!!!

Hears the relentless pre-dawn pellets of hard rain in a droughtage situation and thinks "Shoot! There go our tracks"! instead of "Hallelujah" Sure enough, between the tide ad rain there wasn't much to see in Zone 1 - which boasted 4 nests yesterday. However, 1 nest was found today, in Zone 3; along with 2 non-nesting crawls spotted in Zone 2 and 1 in Zone 3. As mentioned in the previous blog, there are benefits to turtle patroling which have little to do with the thurtles the

At end of June the forecast i developed would say 214 as the low (almost there), 270 is the expected or average, and 379 is the high side. We are almost to 214. 379 I don't think we will get to. 270 has an outside shot but need over 3 nests a day from here on out. With the 5 nests today, there is a shot at breaking the July nesting record, but I think slim. Need an average of 2.5 nests the rests of this month to do that. The running 4 day average and the average for July b

Why Do We Do It? Why arise before daylight, travel to a volunteer job, and face the heat, sand, long walks, hard work, and occasional stormy weather? We do it for turtle conservation, of course. But there are also the added benefits that keep us coming back: the great camaraderie and leadership, working as a team to help each other out, and seeing the tracks of the mothers as they come ashore and the babies' tracks as they emerge from the nest. Watching the excitement and awe

Added 2 more nests Bringing the total for the season up to 206 The picture(s) were taken by permitted volunteers under permits 2026-MTP537 and 2026-MTP565. Following all rules and guidelines.only permitted individuals are allowed to engage in sea turtle conservation activities.

Photos taken by volunteers under Permit MTP 537 & MTP 565 Zone 2 started with a crawl close to the light house entrance. Sunrise and a crab hole led to an easy find of Nest #203 with 106 eggs. Relocated AHTL minus 1 egg for genetics. Zone 3-One NNE was located and Nest #204 was found with 131 eggs. Relocated AHTL minus one egg for studies. A large hole was left after a sand art session which needed much filling and time. Please fill your holes and pick up any trash you ca

Added 1 more nest today Nesting has slowed for Hunting Island. But it's still possible for a double digit nest day to be in the future. Also had two non nesting crawls today The picture(s) were taken by permitted volunteers under permits 2026-MTP537 and 2026-MTP565. Following all rules and guidelines.only permitted individuals are allowed to engage in sea turtle conservation activities.

We are down to an avg 2.6 nests per day in July. Nesting has slowed down obviously. Need a pickup soon or july may not be the best All the best and congrats on #200 Keith Aspray

For the first time in Hunting Island history we hit 200nests. #200 was found in zone 1 and nest 201 was found in zone 2. Also had our first 2 boils. Jumping for joy for finding nest #200. Hunting Island use to be a undeveloped island until the damn loggerheads decided to move in and build all these condos. LOL. Bring it on mama’s.

Another beautiful Turtle Thursday morning!!! ☀️🐢 We found Nest #199 in Zone 2, and it was left in situ. Momma made our job easy by leaving a pinecone right on top of where she covered her eggs! It only took 2 probes to locate the nest. Thank you, Momma!

Here on Saint Helena Island, the notion that nature is full of surprises is a familiar one. Today was no exception. Just as we're all rooting for magic number 200, we got a surprising single nest closer. Where is Nostradamus when you need him?! Has the slow down begun? Are we being played with? Perhaps teased? All I know is today's laying Momma was determined. Check out these tracks! Steady Crawl Straightforward Body Pit

7/7 update from everyone’s favorite Data Czar, Keith! We love ya and love your data! 🥰 So the loggerheads did it!!! A new nesting record for a season on Hunting Island AND we are NOT done. We are now at 197 nests after 57 nesting days. Typically, a season runs 85 days. The previous record was set in 2023 with 195 nests over 110 days. 3 nests more to hit 200. The records, going back to 1980, don't ever show HI getting to 200 nests. We are averaging about 3 nests a day f

The Tuesday turtle conservation team had a fantastic day, officially breaking our seasonal record of 195 nests! We recorded 3 new nests and 4 non-nesting crawls, bringing us to nests 195, 196, and 197, with a total of 350 eggs safely relocated to higher ground. And we had the opportunity to share turtle facts and our excitement with others on the beach. It was a true team effort across the zones. While Zone 3 had no crawls and Zone 2 had one non-nesting crawl right at the 1-2

The line for 2026 is crazy . Never thought see that on Hunting Island.