Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol has scheduled two inventories for Sunday, August 13, 2023 beginning at 7:30 am:
- The first inventory will be Nest 15 located 135 yards north of Boardwalk 1 which is the nearest beach access.
- The team will then move to Nest 20 located 50 yards north of Boardwalk 1 which is the nearest beach access.
Click here to see a map showing the location of the boardwalks.
To see other scheduled inventories, click here.
The timing of this inventory may be modified without notice in the event of inclement weather.
Turtle hatchlings typically emerge from the nest during the night to avoid exposure to daytime predators such as seagulls. This is called a boil because it really does look like a boiling event when the baby turtles emerge all at once from the nest, which is a hole in the sand.
About three days after the boil, the Turtle Patrol team performs an inventory. They count the empty shells as well as the eggs that have not hatched for a report to DNR. Sometimes, some of the hatchlings are still at the bottom of the nest and haven’t made it out yet. The inventory team helps these hatchlings down to the water’s edge where they can gather strength for their journey across the ocean. We can’t always promise there will be hatchlings to see, but when there are, it is very exciting!
We expect to continue to perform inventories until all nests are removed from the beach which typically occurs in mid-September.
-Submitted by Jane Magioncalda for SI Turtle Patrol