1st sea turtle nest of 2024 spotted on Jekyll Island
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. - Sea turtle nesting season has officially begun in Georgia.
Jekyll Island reported that the first sea turtle nest of the 2024 season was spotted in the Golden Isles.
Last year, a reported 3,479 were found on the island, which was the second-highest on record after 2022.
Giant loggerhead sea turtles are protected as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. Every summer they crawl onto beaches from Florida to the Carolinas to lay their eggs. An army of volunteers in each state works to record each nest and protect it from predators.
One challenge is that female loggerheads don’t reproduce until age 30 or older. And they don’t lay eggs every summer — meaning annual nest counts can rise and fall from year to year.
Georgia’s worst nesting year on record was 2004, when only 358 loggerhead nests were counted.
Since loggerheads were listed as a threatened species, states have stepped up monitoring and protection of sea turtle nests. Shrimp boats trawling in U.S. waters since 1987 have been required to equip their nets with escape hatches for sea turtles.
You can learn more about sea turtles and adopt a nest on Jekyll Island's website.
