Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/sea-turtles-hilton-head/

Every year, millions of people travel to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, but it isn’t a destination for just humans.

Starting in May, the female turtles of Hilton Head Island lay hundreds of eggs, where they are classified as threatened, but in other parts of the world they are endangered.

Since the species is threatened and endangered, conservation is crucial, which is where the Sea Turtle Patrol comes in. They are a group of volunteers who are working together, doing their part to help these turtles survive and thrive.

In the early hours of every summer morning, the Sea Turtle Patrol of Hilton Head Island goes to the beach, with the goal of finding the tracks of a mother sea turtle that will hopefully lead them to a new nest of eggs laid.

The most common turtle that they find there are Loggerheads, but recently they found a rare Green Turtle.

After finding a potential nest, the group digs in the sand to make sure the eggs are there. Then they mark its location on GPS and take a DNA sample from one of the eggs. The hope is that in 60 days, the eggs will hatch, and the babies will make their way toward the water.

Unfortunately, getting to the ocean is not always easy for these baby turtles. They can fall into holes, get blocked by sandcastles, or caught up in trash, which usually means only one in 100 hatchlings will successfully make it to the water.

Along with the Sea Turtle Patrol, the local community there is doing everything they can to help. A local ordinance requires beach-facing lights to be off by 10 p.m., and beaches cleared of obstacles every night.

Hatchlings go toward any light they see, thinking they are following the moonlight that guides them to open water. Instead, if they follow artificial lights that nearby people leave on, the babies will never make it to the ocean.

Since 2016, another group of 500 volunteers called the Turtle Trackers have swept the beaches nightly.

“The people who live here on the island are very very careful,” a Sea Turtle Patrol volunteer said. “The problem is that tourists come and they just don’t know.”

The hatchlings will mature for 30 years before returning to the beach to lay their own eggs.

Until then, the Sea Turtle Patrol and all of the other various groups will continue to keep watch and help as many hatchlings get to the water as possible.

Project Peril, a program of Greater Good Charities, is dedicated to the conservation of species identified as in peril, threatened, endangered or close to extinction throughout the world. Click here to donate and help protect animals from extinction.

Watch the video below to learn more about what’s being done to protect sea turtles on Hilton Head Island:

[embedded content]
Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog