Posted in Travel News November 25, 2019 by

Half A Million Sea Turtles Hatched In South Carolina This Year, Setting A Record

Thanks to South Carolina’s turtle recovery program, this year has seen a record-setting number of baby loggerhead sea turtles. Over half a million of these threatened reptiles have made it to the coast, despite the relatively recent Hurricane Dorian. Here’s more on this wonderful news about the resistance of these native sea turtles.

We’re aware that these uncertain times are limiting many aspects of life. While we continue to feature destinations that make our state wonderful, please take proper precautions or add them to your bucket list to see at a later date. If you know of a local business that could use some extra support during these times, please nominate them here: onlyinyourstate.com/nominate
South Carolina's Natural Resources Department has estimated that 525,500 baby loggerhead sea turtles have emerged from nearly 9,000 nests this year.
Jennifer N Bell / Getty Images
Many credit the success to the turtle rehabilitation program throughout South Carolina, where volunteers have marked off nests as fragile areas that aren't to be tampered with. Federal wildlife biologists had also carefully relocated nests that were in danger of being washed away.
The mesh netting around the nests ensures that predators like raccoons can't get inside.
John Dreyer / Getty Images
Although sea turtle hatchlings don't have great odds for surviving into adulthood (about 1 in 1,000), these efforts to improve nest conditions are significantly paying off in terms of sea turtle rehabilitation.
burcintuncer / E+ via Getty Images

To read more about this hopeful trend in sea turtle populations, you can click here. What are your thoughts on the exciting news about this once-threatened species? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!