Park staff discovered the nest of a green sea turtle this weekend at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the latest sea turtle nest ever recorded in North Carolina.
National Park Service biologists found the nest on Hatteras Island in the Frisco area Sunday morning.
“This is a rare occurrence as it’s the latest laid sea turtle nest found at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Not only that, but it’s also the latest nest ever recorded for the state of North Carolina!” the park service said in a social media post.
By looking at her crawl patterns, the turtle crawled erratically before deciding where to lay her eggs, the post said. “We aren’t the only ones that have been enjoying this mild weather in December!” the post said.
Outer Banks sea turtle nesting season runs from May through September, with turtles returning year after year to lay their eggs by digging nests into the sand. About two months later, the tiny turtles hatch out, scatter across the beach and head to the ocean.
The previous late nesting record for Cape Hatteras and the state was Oct. 31, 2020. Late nests typically don’t do well due to cool sand temperatures, according to wildlife experts.
Incubation temperatures below 80.6 degrees produce hatchlings with “decreased vigor, poor righting response times, slow crawl speeds and overall poorer swimming ability,” the OBX Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (N.E.S.T.) said on its website.
“A hatchling needs strength to dig out of the nest, crawl towards the ocean and then spend the next 24-48 hours in a swimming frenzy avoiding predators and striving to reach the Gulf Stream where they mature among large masses of seaweeds,” the website said.
Five species of turtles are found along the Outer Banks, the most common the loggerhead and green turtle. Leatherbacks, hawksbill and Kemp’s ridleys also make appearances.
This year’s turtle nesting season also started early, with the first nest found on Hatteras Island on May 12.
Nesting numbers for the season were close to record-breaking across the Outer Banks, with 459 nests found from Ocracoke Island to the Virginia state line.
At Cape Hatteras National Seashore, this year tied with 2022 as the second-busiest nesting season on record with 379 nests. Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, which covers about 13 miles on the north end of Hatteras Island, reported its third-busiest nesting season since 2009.
N.E.S.T., which covers the Outer Banks from the Virginia line to Nags Head, logged 37 nests in 2023. Thirty of those were loggerhead nests and seven were green turtle nests.
