Recently, someone asked about the most unusual nesting sites the Turtle Team has seen on the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. This brought back memories of “sports-minded” loggerheads who seemed to be thinking of golf, volleyball and hiking in the forest. Since these turtles nest in the dark of night, perhaps they can’t see their surroundings. Could that be why strange places are chosen?
Loggerheads mate early in the spring to fertilize about four to six nests that will be laid that season at two-week intervals.
In June 2014, a nest was laid in the middle of a beach volleyball court near the Windjammer. If those eggs had been left where they were laid, people would have been stomping on the sand above them. Our nesting guidelines from the SCDNR Marine Turtle Program do not mention whether eggs should be left in an active volleyball court, but this seemed like a no-brainer at the time. They were relocated to a dune at 29th Avenue, where they hatched successfully.
Two years later, in May 2016, a nesting loggerhead crawled onto the 18th fairway of the Links Course in Wild Dunes. She was trying to find a sandy, elevated spot, and she did. After trying to dig in the tough Bermuda grass of the fairway, she discovered the sand trap, which seemed familiar. That is where she dropped 142 eggs into a 2-foot hole that she dug with her rear flippers.
More recently, in June 2023, erosion had taken its toll on the area of Sullivan’s Island between Stations 17 and 18, where the protected maritime forest lies. This is a wonderful area for migratory birds to nest and feed, but as far as we knew, sea turtles did not nest there. By 2023, erosion of the dunes had killed many trees, including wax myrtles, from saltwater inundation.
On June 12, Diane Brumley and Jenn Gragg discovered tracks that showed what a struggle a loggerhead mother had endured to climb a small cliff and make it to higher ground. This higher ground contained black dirt and had also flooded.
The Turtle Team saw where she damaged or dug up forest plants, including dog fennel, thorny dewberry vines and poison ivy. We were able to find where the eggs were laid, but a couple of our team members paid the price afterward with poison ivy, which was painful and itchy.
When removing the eggs, we discovered standing water at the bottom of the egg chamber, which likely would have damaged them. At that time, there were still some suitable dunes nearby close to the Sand Dunes Club that were used for a successful relocation.
In 2026, there are many areas of Sullivan’s Island where nesting is not possible because of severe erosion. This means that finding spots for nests will be a daunting task for sea turtles as well as the Turtle Team.
On the Isle of Palms, a major renourishment project is scheduled to begin in late June in Wild Dunes and continue into the fall when it moves south of the pier at 14th Avenue. That means areas at the north end and the south end of the island cannot be used for loggerhead nests.
We are hoping that by next season the beach will be restored for beachgoing people and for sea turtles.