More than 7,000 sea turtle hatchlings surfaced from their nests onto Holden Beach’s ocean shore this year, making it the second-highest nesting season in the local turtle patrol’s history.
The Holden Beach Turtle Patrol on Monday announced the results of its 39th season, one in which 78 nests were laid with a success rate of 81%. New hatchlings included those that emerged from a recently vandalized nest, the last one laid this season.
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“This year’s nest success may have been due to the absence of foxes, severe storms, and extremely high tides,” according to a patrol release. “Nest success may also have benefited from the relocation of many nests laid below or in the middle of escarpments created by beach erosion.”
The Holden Beach Turtle Patrol’s record-setting year was in 2019, when 52 female sea turtles laid 105 nests on the Brunswick County town’s ocean beach. The patrol was established in 1989.
“That year, the nest success rate was 68%,” the group stated.
Patrol officials are waiting to review the 2026 DNA results, which will be compiled later this year, to learn how many females laid nests on Holden Beach this season.
Also this year, Steve McNeill was named the turtle patrol’s program director following the retirement of Pat Cusak, who devoted 19 years to the patrol. The patrol also has a new president, Deva Tucker, who this year succeeded John Cifelli.
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