Sea Turtles

This juvenile Kemp’s Ridley had been snagged by a fishing line.Photo taken by the HHI Turtle Protection Program Team, summer 2015.

Sea turtles have graced the oceans since the dinosaurs, but only seven species remain in the world today, and they too, face extinction. Five of these can be found in the waters off South Carolina, the Loggerhead, Leatherback, Green, Hawksbill, and Kemp’s Ridley, although it is the Loggerhead most frequently seen, and the turtle accounting for 99% of the nests.

Sea turtles are distinguished from land turtles by their flippers. Even the webbed feet if freshwater turtles end in distinct toes. Adult Loggerheads average 3 feet in length and 500 pounds in weight. Although they spend their lives in the ocean, sea turtles breathe air through lings, not gills, and must surface to breathe. An active turtle will surface every 3 to 5 minutes, but when asleep, the metabolism slows to allow them to remain underwater for up to 3 hours.

: Turtle tracks start and end at the high tide line, crossed by the tracks of the Turtle Team’s gator. Loggerhead tracks look much like little bulldozer tracks. Once they have hatched and made their way to the ocean, male Loggerheads never again set flipper on dry ground. The females come on land only to lay their nests.

: Nest laid overnight June 27/28, 2015, Port Royal Plantation beach, ocean side. Mama’s body pit is clearly visible here. She scrapes out a depression (like an upside down mushroom) as deep as her back flippers allow. She lays an average of 120 leathery, golf ball sized eggs before very carefully filling the cavity with sand.

: This mama Loggerhead has nested, as evidenced by the sand on her back (carapace).Photo taken by the HHI Turtle Protection Program Team, summer 2015.

: Nest #26 located at the Sonesta Resort emerged overnight July 13/14, 2015. The eggs incubate for 45 to 80 days. After hatching, the babes lie under the surface of the sand until the change in temperature lets them know that night has arrived. The emergence of hatchlings has been described as an “eruption”, a sight I hope I am fortunate to see one day.

: Pits like this left by beach goers present a real danger to sea turtles, the babies in particular, that may become trapped during their journey to the ocean. The hatchlings are guided to the wayer because it is the lightest thing on the horizon (or should be).

: This nest on Mitchelville Beach ended up being over washed during an exceptionally high (King) tide. Generally, nests found below the high tide line will be relocated, but Mother Nature is not always predictable. The Loggerhead nesting season on the island is May 1 to October 31, spanning the time from the first nests being lais to the last hatching.

: Beached sea turtle eggs. Unknown whether these were from an over-washed “wild” nest (one not found by the Turtle Team), or if a mama was unable to nest and dropped them in the ocean.

: These eggs were “ripe.” This ping pong ball sized egg burst with just a tap of the toe.

: A Loggerhead rib bone that has become detached from the carapace.

: It was found washed up on Mitchelville Beach.

Although Loggerheads account for 99% of the nests on Hilton Head Island, there have been a handful of Leatherback nests over the years. If you like, you can read the full post about a Leatherback nest inventory I attended during the summer of 2015. I write more specifically about Leatherbacks and nest inventories, but included the photos below.