Island Turtle Team - Isle of Palms - Sullivan's Island

Nest #9: Sullivan's Island is doing well compared to some seasons with four nests in the last five days. Today Jenn Gragg, Diane Brumley and Joanne Staton along with Joanne's dog Archie found Nest #9. These expert nest finders spotted very short indistinct tracks that led up to the rock boulders at Fort Moultrie just southwest of the Station 13 Access Path where a huge Carolina Day celebration is going to take place this weekend to celebrate the Revolutionary Battle of Fort S

Three nests were found on the Isle of Palms this morning, all in Wild Dunes where sand renourishment work will begin the end of this month. Some experts say that nesting sea turtles prefer erosional beaches because the don't have to crawl so far to lay their eggs. Could that be why they prefer that section of our island? The first was Nest #8 discovered at 18 Beachwood East by Bev Miller and Aelecia RIdeout, our dedicated team members on patrol. This one was laid at the base

We ended the 2025 Nesting Season by inventorying Nest #12 on Sullivan's Island exactly two months after it was laid on August 4. This nest was found by Diane Brumley and Jenn Gragg on the beach at Fort Moultrie where it would have washed away by now. It contained 99 eggs and was relocated to a low dune near the Sand Dunes Club where it incubated for 58 days before producing hatchlings on October 1. The long incubation was probably caused by the cooler than usual weather in Se

Nest #9 was found by Jessica Hatfield and Lisa Seglem on July 19 where it was laid about halfway between Station 26 and 26 ½. We don’t know how many eggs were laid because the mother loggerhead laid them in a good spot with no relocation necessary – or at least it was a good spot at the time in the dunes not threatened by the tide. However, erosion from the passing of Hurricane Erin began a cycle where the ocean started eating away at the dunes in this block when the moon wa