First and foremost, I personally want to thank everyone on the patrol that works behind the scenes to get the hard work done. You know who you are. I would also like to welcome all the new patrollers and hope that your experience this summer is everything you could hope for.
This turtle season was off to a hopeful and early start as Tuesday, April 29, 2025 was a very busy day in the Turtle world. We had two crawls before the season even started. While neither one had a nest at the end, this shows the turtles are eager to come here. Folly Beach Turtle Watch has bragging rights to the first South Carolina nest of the year.
On that same Tuesday morning, a Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) was spotted off the port side of the EV Discovery (SCDNR) while leaving the Marine Resources Center at Fort Johnson. She even popped her head up to greet us. I tried to give her the GPS coordinates for our beach but I don’t think she was paying attention.
Now, the really exciting news is we finally had our first nest on Friday, May 9, 2025. Braving rain and high tides, Carolyn Adam, Judy Morr, Nancy Shenton and Kim Sparks found a crawl about 6 houses north of The Club. The nest containing 132 eggs needed to be relocated but a good spot between the rocks was found. Special congratulations to Kim and Carolyn, who are first year walkers!
Seabrook Island Birders, Shorebird Stewards, Lowcountry Marine Mammals Network, TOSI, SIPOA and the Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol all joined forces to create and produce 3 new beautiful sets of signs to help inform beach goers of the amazing wildlife here on the island. Special thanks to our own Brandy Embrey who designed these signs. Come down to Boardwalk 9, 7 or 1 to see them, enjoy the wonderful images of some of our favorite local photographers, and learn about some of the abundant wildlife you may encounter.
In other news the cold-stunned juvenile Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) that was found on our beach earlier in March is recovering in the SC Aquarium Sea Turtle Care CenterTM. They have named her Rose and she is receiving tender loving care. We are hoping she will be moved upstairs and out of ICU soon. You can see pictures of her and check her status here.
Submitted by Anne Snelgrove for Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol
(Image Credit: Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol)