Photo Credit: Barbara Bergwerf
The 2024 loggerhead nesting season has come to a close, and it was a very good season for the Isle of Palms. There were 56 nests, the third-highest number ever recorded. There were 57 nests in 2019 and 62 in 2012. Unfortunately, our turtles nested only four times on Sullivan’s Island this year. The sandbars there may have contributed to the drop in nesting, but we expect more in 2025.
Due to severe erosion and sand scraping and dumping projects south of the pier and in Wild Dunes, we relocated Isle of Palms nests to the more suitable middle of the island, where the eggs wouldn’t be washed away or buried too deeply. The nests did very well in their new locations. We documented 54 times that loggerheads crawled ashore and left without laying eggs on Isle of Palms, and three times on Sullivan’s Island.
We collected a DNA sample from every nest in the form of an eggshell and screened each nest to prevent coyote predation. The holes in these screens are large enough for hatchlings to crawl out when they are ready. The screens aren’t removed until the final inventory of each nest. So far, we’ve received identifying information on the mothers of the first 20 nests, with more data to come. Several of our favorite turtle moms returned again this season to lay multiple nests.
The only predation that occurred in 2024 was minor and from nocturnal ghost crabs. One nest was affected by fire ants, which killed seven hatchlings as they emerged.
We have written 17 reports for sea turtles that stranded on the beach in 2024, and there will likely be more into the fall and winter months. Some of these strandings occurred in other locations, such as Shem Creek, the Intracoastal Waterway, or elsewhere in the state. The most common species seen was the juvenile green sea turtle, with the most common cause of injury being strikes by watercraft, including one giant leatherback killed in May during migration. Several juvenile Kemp’s ridleys were caught on fish hooks and transported to the South Carolina Aquarium for treatment. None of the stranded turtles appeared to be our adult female nesting loggerheads.
As always, we are very grateful to all our faithful volunteers, the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island police and fire departments, and the rental companies who distribute our brochures to their clients. All worked together to make this a successful season.
ISLE OF PALMS SULLIVAN’S ISLAND
56 Nests, 54 False Crawls 4 Nests, 3 False Crawls
6,822 Eggs Laid, 5,966 Hatched 465 Eggs Laid, 411 Hatched
52 Days Average Incubation 54.5 Days Average Incubation
121.8 Average Eggs per Nest 114 Average Eggs per Nest
86.5% Average Hatch Success 88.4% Average Hatch Success
