‘Discouraging’: Hilton Head beachgoers seen picking up sea turtles, disturbing nests

Hilton Head Island sea turtle advocates say last week was “discouraging,” after they got reports of people on the beach digging into sea turtle nests to check on unhatched eggs and another report of someone illegally picking up hatchlings trying to get to the ocean.

“Sea turtles are not here for our entertainment, and we encourage people to change their mindset and join us in thinking like sea turtle conservationists,” the Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Patrol posted on Facebook. “Sea turtle conservationists respect sea turtles and leave them to their natural processes without interfering.”

The reports of people disturbing nests came from Sea Pines and North Forest Beach.

“I don’t think it’s malicious, I think it’s just ignorance because we haven’t been able to reach them,” Patrol leader and marine biologist Amber Kuehn told The Island Packet.

Hilton Head Island has 278 sea turtle nests. Tiny turtles are beginning to hatch and head for the ocean. Touching or harassing the protected Loggerhead sea turtle is illegal.

Kuehn said the turtle patrol doesn’t number nests on Hilton Head so that people cannot track them or disturb them. She said it’s best to leave nests alone and give hatchlings a healthy distance if you see them.

How to protect Hilton Head Island’s sea turtles

Sea turtle season on the island runs from May 1 to Oct. 31, where the nesting and hatching on the island is in full swing.

Here are some things you can do to make the beaches safer for the tiny turtles:

• Fill in your holes on the beach and bring in beach toys at the end of the day.
• Turn out your lights! Don’t use white flashlights on the beach and draw your blinds if your windows face the beach.
• Pack in, pack out: Take all your chairs, towels and trash with you when you leave the beach.
• Don’t walk between sand dunes on the beach. It can disturb the nests.

If you see a dead, stranded or injured sea turtle, call the S.C. Department of Natural Resources at 1-800-922-5431.

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.