The Holden Beach Turtle Patrol has announced its 2026 T-shirt design, one chosen from 23 design contest entries from five states.

Its message “tells a conservation story, and it represents the teamwork and dedication required to protect sea turtles today and inspire conservation-minded leaders for the future,” the all-volunteer nonprofit said Wednesday.

The 2026 contest winners are Addison Hedin, a freshman at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and Terrie Buchner, an active member of the Holden Beach Turtle Patrol. 

Their collaborative design, “Every Turtle Counts … Every Action Matters,” “reflects the shared commitment to sea turtle conservation, education and environmental stewardship that defines our Turtle Patrol mission,” according to the organization.

Merchandise featuring the new design, also including hats and bags, is now for sale at the organization’s website at www.hbturtlewatch.org. 

Use the “Shop & Donate Here!” pull-down menu or click the online shopping link on the homepage to view the catalog and make a purchase by credit card or check. 

The merchandise is also available to purchase at The Lighthouse Gift store on the causeway to Holden Beach, 3434 Holden Beach Road.

Sea turtles face increasing threats from habitat loss, artificial light, human disturbance, and climate-related challenges, according to the Turtle Patrol, which works each nesting season to monitor nests, protect hatchlings, and educate the public on how simple actions, such as filling holes, limiting light pollution and respecting marked nests, can make a difference. Proceeds from merchandise sales support the patrol’s ongoing conservation efforts.

The Holden Beach Turtle Patrol was founded in 1989 to monitor and protect the sea turtle population on Holden Beach. The organization operates under the authority of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

For more information about the Holden Beach Turtle Patrol, visit the website or follow on Facebook and Instagram.

The Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program is launching an adopt-a-nest sponsorship program.

Nests will be available for adoption on a first-come, first-serve basis as they are laid along the Brunswick County island’s shore. The adoption fee is $125 per nest.

The Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program, also referred to as the turtle patrol, will provide an electronic certificate of adoption to an adoptee as well as display that adoptee’s name at the nest.

Photos and details of adopted nests will be shared with their adoptees throughout sea turtle nesting season, which runs May 1 – Aug. 31.

Funds collected through the adopt-a-nest program will support the turtle patrol’s efforts to protect endangered sea turtles on Holden Beach.

This program is symbolic only, meaning no person may claim ownership of a nest, its eggs or hatchlings.

For questions about the adopt-a-nest program email adoptanest@hbturtlewatch.org.

The Holden Beach Turtle Patrol is accepting applicants for new trainees for the 2026 sea turtle nesting season.

During nesting season, which runs from May through October, volunteers with the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program patrol the Brunswick County island’s ocean shoreline for turtle crawls, locate nests, relocate eggs from nests that are in unsafe locations, mark and nests, and monitor them until hatchlings are released.

Last year, sea turtles laid 35 nests on the island, according to the organization. Those nests contained a little more than 4,000 eggs. Of those, the organization documented 2,389 hatchlings.

Anyone interested may complete an online submission form. Candidates will be interviewed by Steve McNeill, program coordinator, who will explain the program, volunteer training, as well as other duties and responsibilities.

Each year since 1994 the members of the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program have produced and sold a new T-shirt design as the organization’s major fundraiser. Again this year, you have a chance to design the shirt.

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1989 monitors, protects and preserves Holden Beach’s sea turtle population, works to foster community-based conservation and education and operates under the authority of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The group is also known as the Holden Beach Turtle Patrol.

If you love sea turtles and have a talent for graphic design, consider donating your design. The program’s 2026 T-shirt design contest is open Sept. 15-Oct. 15.

The winning 2025 T-shirt design was by Lois Palermo, a local sea turtle lover, and her sister Alyson Natale, of Woodlands, Texas, with “Let the Sea Set you Free.”

Submissions of original hand-drawn designs for the 2026 season T-shirt must meet the following requirements:

• Only one design submission allowed per individual.
• The design must include a sea turtle.
• The design must be an original hand-drawn design.
• The design is limited to two colors.
• The design must be in a PDF format to allow for possible changes in printing constraints.
• The chosen design will become the property of the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program.

Submit your design to orders@hbturtlewatch.org by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 15. All submissions will be acknowledged upon receipt.

Designs for all past T-shirts can be viewed at www.hbturtlewatch.org; click “Shop T-Shirts, Hats, & Bags.”

Registered voters of Holden Beach will decide this November whether to approve a multi-million bond that would pay for construction of a new town-owned pier.

Holden Beach commissioners on Tuesday evening unanimously agreed to move ahead with plans to get a $7.3 million bond referendum added to the Nov. 4 ballot.

The board’s decision followed the second public hearing commissioners hosted within the past week on what remains a divisive topic since this Brunswick County town bought the old pier and accompanying property three years ago.

Shortly after the town’s $3.3 million purchase in 2022, officials, citing safety concerns, closed the pier and historic pier house to the public.

An engineering firm contracted by the town would later advise the town that the structures, originally built in the late 1950s, were in significant disrepair.

Last April, the pier house was demolished, leaving a vacancy on land that includes an 80-space parking lot, two public beach access points, an emergency beach access point, and a multisite campground. The property spans more than three acres and includes a 350-foot stretch of continuous oceanfront land.

A chunk of the old pier remains standing beyond the surf off the ocean shore smack in the center of the barrier island.

HDR Engineering Inc. of the Carolinas recommended the town tear down and replace that structure at a cost not to exceed $7.3 million.

Commissioners agreed to pursue a pier replacement option and gave the engineering firm the greenlight to research building a 1,000-foot-long timber pier with a T-shaped structure at the end.

“My bet is if we have a decent engineering company that’s going to construct that pier and it’s going to be wooden then it’s going to be standing here when a majority of us, and most of us in this audience are fairly old, are gone,” Regina Martin said during a public hearing held last Saturday. “But, guess what? My grandchildren and my great-grandchildren will still be here. And, guess what? They will still remember that I used to work at the fishing pier when I was 13, 14 and 15.”

Martin, who owns rental property on the island, reiterated her support for a pier replacement at the hearing late Tuesday afternoon, when those who spoke resumed a back-and-forth debate of sorts about whether the town needs another pier, especially one funded by its taxpayers.

“I hear you all telling me that people don’t want a pier, they don’t want this, they don’t want a tax increase. And, none of us want a tax increase, but we’re talking about a bond referendum here that we may or may not ever use. If we vote for it, it’s another option,” she said Tuesday.

Longtime Holden Beach resident Steve Jenkins said Tuesday that he too wants the town to replace the pier.

“I’ve always had it and I always hope we will have it,” he said. “I’ve always loved this place and I’d like to have it restored to the way it was before.”

But others argue that those who want a new pier are driven by nostalgia and that costs associated with building and maintaining a pier are too burdensome.

Bob Brown said that since he and his wife bought their Ocean Boulevard vacation home a little more than eight years ago, their use of the old pier “has never been too significant.”

“Here we are owners of something that is in a state of significant disrepair, which requires an even more significant investment of property owners, not just voters’ dollars to make what I consider to be slightly flavored water out of lemon,” Brown said on Saturday. “And what is the end here? If we got such a good deal then we should probably be able to see it and break even.”

Jim Bauer said the town’s decision to purchase the property “reckless” and “ill-conceived” and “the most undemocratic thing” because it went against a majority of residents’ wishes.

“We have been saddled with this collection of sticks, which has created nothing but angst, bad feelings and obviously inebriated social media rants that has taken up too much of the town’s time treasure,” he said Saturday. “The same wooden pier at the same location, subjected to the ever-increasing water levels and we are told that we shouldn’t expect the same result. We are told that we are not doomed to repeat the same. That’s nonsense.”

With interest calculated to be at a cost of more than $4.2 million, the cumulative total over the life of the bond is estimated to be nearly $11.6 million.

If voters and the town move forward with acquiring the bond to rebuild a pier, property taxes would increase annually by an estimated $31.60 per $100,000 valuation.

The town would have seven years to issue the bonds if approved by voters.

Brunswick County Public Utilities has lifted a water conservation alert it enacted earlier this summer.

Recent rainfalls and residents’ efforts to conserve water, “have contributed to a drop to sustainable levels for the County’s water system,” leading the utility to rescind the stage 1 alert in put in place June 26, according to a release.

The alert affected customers in the unincorporated areas of the county, as well as Boiling Spring Lakes, Bolivia, Calabash, Carolina Shores, Caswell Beach, Navassa, Northwest, Sandy Creek, Shallotte, Southport, St. James, Sunset Beach, and Varnamtown.

The recension also applies to customers of Bald Head Island Utilities, Holden Beach Utilities, Oak Island Utilities and Ocean Isle Beach Utilities.

It does not apply to Brunswick Regional – H2GO customers.

“Water conservation notices are not uncommon for this time of year,” the release states. “Water systems typically see higher demands in late spring and throughout summer due to the heat, increased irrigation demands, and the peak tourism season.”

The utility could issue additional notices if drier weather conditions return and customers are encouraged to “use water wisely” and maintain the water irrigation schedule the utility recommends.

The schedule is as follows:

• Odd address numbers: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
• Even address numbers: Wednesday, Friday, Sunday.
• No irrigation on Mondays.

Customers are also encouraged to irrigate lawns outside of peak demand hours of 5 a.m.-11 a.m. to spread out demands on the system. Irrigation is recommended after nightfall.

Customers with questions may contact Brunswick County Public Utilities at 910.253.2657 or utilityadmin@brunswickcountync.gov.

The Holden Beach Turtle Patrol held its first-ever beach sweep July 19 with volunteers picking up 120 pounds of trash off the Brunswick County island’s ocean shoreline.

Each of the 40 volunteers who turned out for the event spent between 40 minutes to an hour collecting trash, gathering a host of plastics from commercial store bags, food wrappers and bottles to cigarette butts, paper and cardboard scraps, Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program member Donna McGowan said in an email.

The beach sweep was hosted during the peak of sea turtle nesting season, which generally runs from May through the end of October.

“It is important to keep Holden Beach clean and safe for everyone, but especially for nesting female sea turtles and their new hatchlings,” a patrol release states. “Sea turtles crawling along the beach can be impeded by trash and or worse they can become ensnared in it and die.”

There are currently 33 sea turtle nests on Holden Beach’s ocean shoreline, down 64 from last year, according to McGowan.

“Nesting at our local beaches has been low this year,” she said in the email. “Sea turtles don’t lay every year, rather they lay every 2-3 years so maybe it’s normal to have a low year. August is a busy month with new nests and hatching for existing nests. We are hopeful to get a few more nests before the season ends.”

Another beach sweep is being planned for September. Details for that sweep will be announced at a later date.

The nonprofit hosts informational programs about sea turtles every Wednesday through August at the Holden Beach Chapel.

Volunteers with the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program are getting ready to offer weekly educational sea turtle programs this summer.

Often called the “Turtle Patrol,” the program was founded in 1989 to monitor and protect the sea turtle population on Holden Beach, a seaside town in Brunswick County. This all volunteer, nonprofit conservation organization operates under the authority of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

The family-oriented Turtle Talks are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. June 18 and be held each Wednesday until Aug. 13. A volunteer will speak, a slideshow and film will be shown, and the night will close out with a time to ask questions.

The evening program “focuses on the life cycle of the sea turtle and how the Turtle Patrol aids in the preservation of sea turtles, a volunteer will speak about nesting sea turtles, what to look for when visiting the beach, and current nest information,” organizers explained in a release.

The first Children’s Turtle Time for the summer is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, and is to take place every Wednesday through Aug. 6.

“The program introduces young children to the world of sea turtles through hands-on play, games, books and puzzles,” organizers said.

This program is designed for two age groups, 3-4 and 5-6. An adult should remain with their child during the 45-minute program. If a family has two or more children that fall within both age groups, organizers advise that two adults attend.

Volunteers are available to speak to clubs, classrooms and organizations to promote awareness during the educational outreach program “Turtle Talk on the Road.” Contact theoutreach program coordinator by email at outreach@hbturtlewatch.org for more information or to schedule a program.

Sea turtles nest on Holden Beach from mid-May through August, and their nests hatch July through October. When the 2025 turtle season began May 1, Turtle Patrol members started patrolling the island each morning looking for signs of a nesting sea turtle crawl on the beach.

For details about these educational programs, number of nests, and recent news, www.hbturtlewatch.org.