A beautiful morning on the beach with the sky full of color. The previous evening at around 12:45 am some beach goers spotted momma turtle on the beach and called the N.E.S.T. hotline. This gave our Lead Responder an early jump on managing our newest sea turtle nest at sun’s first light.
Sea turtle tracks and nest site
This nest was laid in an area scheduled for beach renourishment and will need to be relocated. The responding team worked quickly to find the eggs and carefully remove them from the original nest site to a newly created nest site. Team members measure depth to the eggs, depth of the egg chamber and width of the egg chamber so they can create an exact replica. Eggs taken out first are then put back last so the eggs are basically in the same order that our sea turtle mom laid them. Below the eggs are gently placed into egg cartons for transfer to the new nest.
Relocating sea turtle eggs
We have relocated sea turtle nests for various reasons throughout the years. If a nest site is in a spot that may get washed out, or puts the nest in any danger of being destroyed, we will relocate the nest. Our success rate with relocated nests is excellent. We wear gloves when handling the eggs so we do not contaminate the turtles and vice versa.
Nest #6 responding team
Nest 6 responding team
Congratulations Nest #6 Responding Team. Sea turtle eggs are safe and secure in their new nest site.
- nest number: 06
- town: Southern Shores
- date eggs laid: 06/12/2022
- actual emergence date: 8/7/2022
- live hatchlings: 98
- total eggs: 105
See all active nests