Every year from May through August, during the night, mother loggerhead sea turtles crawl onto Kiawah’s beach to dig nests. A mother turtle uses her long back flippers to dig a 20-inch chamber in the sand, a structure that looks like an old-fashion inverted lightbulb. Then, she deposits about 115 white, rubbery-skinned, ping-pong ball-size eggs, and crawls back to the ocean.
Mother turtles lay 4 or 5 nests during nesting season, one every 2 weeks, and they never return to their nests or see their baby turtles.
50 to 70 days after a nest is laid, again in the dark of the night, turtle hatchlings emerge, digging out of the nest, marching down to the ocean, and swimming off to the Sargasso Sea.
How do the hatchlings know the way to the ocean? They follow the moonlit path reflected off the ocean water.
By keeping lights out on the beach, hatchlings can follow the moonlight and quickly find their way to the surf. If there are lights on the beach, like light from phones, flashlights, or beachfront properties, hatchlings can get confused and waste energy by going in the wrong direction. Hatchlings need lots of energy to avoid predators and make their journey to the Sargasso Sea, a seaweed-rich safe place for hatchlings to grow.
To help sea turtles, keep the beach:
- Dark from dusk to dawn
- Smooth by filling in holes and knocking down sandcastles
- Free of chairs and obstacles at night
- Clean from litter and food scraps
If you see a mother turtle come ashore or lay a nest, stand back quietly behind her.
If you see hatchlings, find a Turtle Patrol volunteer or call Beach Patrol immediately.