This summer when in Salvo, North Carolina which is in the Outer Banks I saw an area on the beach that was blocked off for turtles nests.   There were signs on posts saying not to cross the line because there are turtle eggs in nests.  This got me wondering about the sea turtles in the Outer Banks.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) are the people that put signs up like the ones I saw to protect the turtles.  There are 330 miles of beach suitable for the turtles.  Some of the kinds of sea turtles there are in the Outer Banks are loggerheads, green turtles, leatherbacks and sometimes Kemp’s ridleys sea turtle but this is very rare.  Loggerheads are the most common species in the Outer Banks.  The NCWRC records data which is crucial in monitoring populations, formulating protective regulations, and maximizing reproduction of the turtles.  Causes of turtle egg loss are storms, foxes, ghost crabs, the nest being too shallow, broken eggs, birds, and research.  Research takes about 1/3 of the eggs.  Eggs have an average hatch percentage of 72.3%.  Cape Hatteras Beach has the most amount of eggs and turtles that hatch in the Outer Banks, there were 289 nests   This is a couple miles south of Salvo, where I was.

May-August is the time period when there are the most nests of eggs on the beaches of the Outer Banks.  May is when the female turtles go onto the beach to make their nest and lay their eggs.  Each nest has about 120 eggs which are the size of a ping pong ball.  Not all 120 eggs are laid at once, the female returns to the nest about every 2 weeks to lay more.   After about a 60 day incubation periods the eggs hatch.  When the eggs hatch the turtles run for the water and start their sea turtle life. The nest varies from 1-2 feet deep.  Females usually nest every other year or every 3rd year.

The North Carolina Sea Turtle Project was made to monitor sea turtle activity all along North Carolina’s coast.  Although the turtles are somewhat endangered the state of North Carolina seems to be doing what it can to help the turtles out and protect the nests.  I had no idea any of this happened where I go in the Outer Banks but I’m glad I looked into what I saw when I was there.

Video Of Turtles Hatching in the Outer Banks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3yYd-4Rws

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Sources

http://www.seaturtle.org/nestdb/?view=1

http://www.seaturtle.org/groups/ncwrc/overview.html