I'm referring to the biting flies who seem to be having a field day before the sun comes up and after it goes down. We have yet to find a product truly effective against the insects currently swarming at the beach. And folks? Anyone out there with some spare chicken legs - bring them on down to catch some crabs because they're messing with our remaining turtle nests. The good news is, we've had a plethora of successful boils. This year was a doozy, and it's far from over! Thi

Hot Friday morning on the beach. 3 nests boiled last night, two in zone 3 and one in zone 2. No new crawls, last one was Monday. Inventoried nests 49, 69 and 93 in zone 2 this morning. Nice tight pattern heading to the water. 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.

It was HOT, HOT, HOT out there today! 🥵☀️ Thankfully, our turtle patrol crew is just as dedicated as ever. 💚 No new nests today, but we completed 3 inventories, and they all had good results! We also found evidence that a coyote has been visiting some of the nests. Luckily, it appears he was only interested in crabs for dinner and left our turtle eggs safe in their nest. We’ll call that a win! A HUGE thank-you to everyone who braved the heat, stayed hydrated, and came out t

Despite the black flies, heat, and sand filled shoes, the morning was glorious with a beautiful sunrise and purpose to our steps. We did not find any new nests today. However, several of the existing nests did hatch (boil). Interestingly, many of the baby turtle tracks seemed to circle and meander. This was likely due to the low moonlight from the new moon, which meant nature's guidance was not as bright and definite as usual. We did perform several inventories of a few hatch

Just when it looked like nesting was done we had a non nesting crawl. Is a nest to follow the next few days ??? 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.

All photos taken by permitted volunteers under permits MTP-537 and MTP- 565 Zone 2, Nest 157 showing signs of emergence.

Nest 230 was found on Saturday 8/15. More like it made itself known when lots of hatchlings made a mad dash to the ocean leaving lots of tiny sea turtle tracks. This is known as a undetected nest, it was originally called a non nesting crawl. Surprise 😀 it was actually a nest . 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 conserva

Beautiful sunrise to start the day. Nests 99 and 106 hatched and nest 29 was inventoried with 98 hatched and 20 non hatched. The birds were in abundance in zone 1. 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. #Hunting Island Turtle Conservation, #loggerhead turtles

Thursday brought us four beautiful nests that hatched! We also had the opportunity to inventory an in-situ nest and found 116 successful egg hatches with 17 eggs that did not hatch. What an amazing little army of baby turtles making their way into the world! The rest of our morning was filled with some absolutely gorgeous sunrise Kodak moments. Another beautiful morning on the beach, doing what we love and cheering on our little turtle babies!

Today we had 1 non-nesting crawl in zone 1 and 2 courageous top-of-the-nest babies (from 2 different nests) make it safely into the water. Check out the perseverance and turn up the volume!

Every year, coastal areas welcome thousands of visitors looking to enjoy the natural beauty of our beaches. However, these same shores serve as vital nesting grounds for sea turtles. Educating visitors about turtle conservation is crucial to ensuring these endangered species can safely nest and hatch. We often have visitors walk with us in the early morning. These are great opportunities for teaching about conservation, and what to do and not to do to protect our turtles. We

Photos taken by volunteers under permits MTP-537 MTP-565 Zone 2 Nest 118 lots of tracks

No new crawls or nests this morning but we had 6 nests boil. 2 live hatchlings were found behind nest 109 in zone 2 heading for the campground and were assisted in the right direction to the sea. Nest 119 had two dead hatchlings just outside of the nest. 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.

Today’s patrol was brought to you by Mother Nature…who apparently forgot to check our schedule! 🤣 About 45 minutes into patrol, the first thunderstorm rolled in with lightning, so we all made a quick retreat and hunkered down. Once the coast was clear, we made a mad dash back to the beach to finish patrol before Round 2 of the storm arrived. Even Momma Turtle was trying to beat the weather! She successfully left us Nest #229 No other nesting or hatching activity was observe

Today there is only one piece of information to report for the Turtle Patrol.. We had one non-nesting crawl in zone one.But don’t you worry, because soon we’re going to be seeing numbers much greater than one. On Hunting Island Beach alone we have 228 loggerhead nests with roughly 100 eggs in each getting ready to hatch. I wonder what song we’ll be singing then?

Beautiful sunrise greeted us this morning. No new crawls this morning, even the pelicans seem to be laidback. One nest in zone 1 had what appeared to be a start of a boil with one baby turtle about two inches deep and no tracks but ghost crabs standing by so we covered the nest with more sand and hopefully they will boil later tonight. Inventorying nest #50. Sometimes you just have to get down and dirty.

Today was a nest trifecta in the wildest parts of the beach. Nest 225 was found in zone 4 and nest 226 in zone 5. All north of the breach. Nest 227 was a wild nest.. This is a nest where rain or wind completely wipe out the tracks before volunteers arrive. It is discovered purely by hatchling tracks! Nest relocation was fast and furious. All in all, Wednesday was a wild ride! Boneyard Beach

Today brought us Nest #228! Our fearless leader picked 228 as her lucky guess for the total number of turtle nests this season. Will she hold onto the winning spot, or will our amazing momma turtles prove her wrong? Stay tuned! 😉 Several nests showed some activity that may have gotten an unfortunate head start thanks to a few curious ghost crabs. We spotted some hatchling tracks, but no full boil just yet. The best part of the morning? Three nests had full hatches! The sand

Sending Nest #224 in Zone 4 to the statistics this 26th day of July 2026!