As we have previously reported on MyGreenClick, sea turtles face many challenges nowadays. Lucky for the ancient reptiles, humans are here to help. About ten years ago, a group of concerned citizens formed the Isle of Palms Sea Turtle Nest Protection Program under South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (Turtle Team, for short). Located on coastal South Carolina, a popular spot for loggerhead turtles to nest, the team’s 100+ volunteers walk the beach every morning during the summer, searching for nesting mother turtles or baby turtles that recently hatched.
Nesting turtles face a variety of dangers, both in and out of the water. The South Carolina coastline is developing rapidly, and the crowds discourage nesting females to come ashore. If they do leave the water to nest, the lights from the coastal houses can lure the hatchlings to come ashore instead of towards the water. The trash left on the beach by people is also a threat to the animals, as are the holes dug by people who visit the beach during the daytime. The problem has grown so substantially that legal action has recently been taken.
The Turtle Team, which is one of 20 groups in South Carolina devoted to protecting endangered species, is made up of volunteers who walk the beach every day and people who are trained by the Department of Natural Resources to assist turtles in danger. Mary Pringle, the Project Leader in the group, has been a member since 1998 when she first moved to the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Pringle credits the growing involvement to protect sea turtles to the animal’s popularity.
“People just love sea turtles,” she said. “They want any involvement with them. They love to interact with them.”
Pringle said the results of the effort have been significant. When theSouth Carolina Department of Natural Resources first began studying the animals and conducting aerial surveys of the coast, the turtles had a ten percent hatch rate. That rate has increased significantly, topping at 85 percent last year and at 74 percent this year, the decrease credited to the frequent tropical storms causing flood tides.
Pringle is determined to keep the numbers high and continue the work of the Turtle Team.
“It really does give you goosebumps to see a 300 pound mother nesting on the beach,” she said.
