Since the beginning of 2023, eight turtles have washed up on Sullivan’s Island and seven have washed up on the Isle of Palms. The stranding response volunteers who are permitted by the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network have responded to five others, three at the marina near Patriots Point in Charleston Harbor, one that was found in Copahee Sound and one in Shem Creek.
Unfortunately, only two of these 20 turtles were alive when they stranded on the shore. Of these two, one was a juvenile green turtle 10 inches in shell length that was taken to the South Carolina Aquarium Turtle Care Center, treated and released several months later.
It was found behind the rock sea wall near Station 10 on Sullivan’s Island. The other was a juvenile loggerhead hit by a propeller in the Intracoastal Waterway that died shortly after being admitted to the Turtle Care Center. Only one of our strandings was an adult; the rest were juveniles. So the good news is that these are not our nesting female loggerheads.
Of these 20 cases, 16 were killed by strikes from watercraft, which is a major problem. Sullivan’s Island receives many of these turtles because of its proximity to Charleston Harbor, where there are numerous boats.
In South Carolina, there have been 128 sea turtle strandings this year, 43 of them caused by boat strikes.
Every season, we see a great number of small turtles that not loggerheads; the most numerous of them – nine this year – are juvenile green sea turtles that are 10 to 12 inches in shell length. Kemp’s ridleys, which usually come from the Gulf of Mexico, are about the same size, and we had four of them in 2023. There were seven loggerheads; all but one were juveniles. Loggerheads are not considered adults until their shell length reaches 34 inches – or 87 centimeters.
When we respond to a stranding call, usually from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, we gather lots of information: date; species; exact location, including GPS; photos; condition; final disposition – sometimes we save a fresh carcass for necropsy and sometimes we bury it or have it buried if it’s very large; exact shell measurements; internal and external tags found; and finally comments about wounds or abnormalities; parasite load; and general health. This information goes into a database that includes other states and countries.
If you see a dead turtle that has orange paint on it, that means it’s already been documented and is awaiting burial on the beach. If you see one that has not been painted, please report it to the police at 843-886-6522 or call the DNR hotline at 843-922- 5431.