
SCDNR has posted 'No Dogs Allowed' signs near #8 mile marker on Hobcaw Beach. There is active shorebird nesting and dogs wandering in this area can destroy nests and chicks.

5-16 Susan and Lourdes found a textbook crawl laid above the high tide line. Lourdes located the egg chamber easily for her first nest!

5-19 DEB04 had a long area of nesting possibility. Mark got some good probing experience with Judy finally locating the chamber!

5-21 Kathy C. found a crawl north WW#6 with a big variation in lengths indicating the turtle spent time on the beach.

This daytime nesting turtle came up without being noticed and successfully laid her nest at the base of the dunes.

5-26 Bob C. quickly located the egg chamber of HOB05. He and Brandie decided to relocated the nest of 115 to better habitat.

5-26 Bob B. was available to go by boat and work on the nest. He located the chamber in short order!

5-28 Bob and Martha were fortunate to see this turtle returning to the ocean after meandering for 300 yds,

5-28 This exhausted loggerhead makes a slow crawl to the ocean. After dousing her with sea water she still had to be lifted into the waves.

5-28 The nest of HOB13 was actually south of the area that appeared to be the body pit. The turtle began her wandering after she nested. Bill finally solved the mystery.

5-29 Kathi A., dressed for flies, is happy to have found and protected HOB15 in Ocean Green. She located the egg chamber in the heat of the day:(

5-31 HOB16 crawled up the face of the dune and nested on the way down. Bob located the shallow egg chamber.

6-2 Bob put in a lot of time and effort into earning his certification. We sure need his skills for this amazing nesting season we are having...congratulations Bob!

6-3 DEB13 was laid at the base of the Beach Club Walkway. Jane did a good job locating the egg chamber.

6-5 Martha the egg chamber of HOB19 very close to the dead tree. She nested at the end of her incoming crawl...a bit unusual.

6-5 HOB20 nested at the base of the dunes. Wendy, who has been training new volunteers for the past 2 seasons, was happy to have a nest on her own!

6-6 Frankie, Donna and Peggy found this false crawl which may have been the turtle from Prince George making another attempt at #8mm.

6-6 This turtle made a U-turn when it hit the sea wall. Hard structures are nesting deterrents for sea turtles.

6-7 Judy K. found this classic crawl just north #13mm at Prince George. She located the eggs and it became DEB19.

6-8 Wendy and Susan found this nesting attempt but after probing, felt the turtle encountered too much debris.

6-10 Buffie and Mark look on as Haden digs where Walter located a soft area in the hard sand with his aluminum probe.

6-10 Buffie carefully transfers the eggs from the nest into the bucket for relocation north to better habitat.

6-10 Haden digs out the new nest chamber with a cockle shell. This area has much better habitat to incubate the nest of 116 eggs.

6-13 Susan and Pat found this crawl with the body pit in an ideal location with the possible nest on top of a low dune.

6-13 Pat, who is working on her certification, examines the crawl to decide incoming vs. outgoing tracks.

6-14 A turtle laid her nest exactly in the pathway of a beach house. The decision was made to relocate.

6-14 Marie, John and Pat took turns carefully transferring eggs out of the original nest and into the new one.

6-14 The DEB26 relocation team did a good job and proudly shows the new home site. 110 eggs will incubate for about 55 days before hatching.

6-15 Wendy and Duane found this body pit against the newly pushed up dune. Duane probed and easily located his first nest...HOB28!

6-15 This shows the strength of loggerheads to climb this tall dune. This female turtle made sure HOB29 was high & dry!

6-17 Walter and Haden had a crawl south WW#4. Kathi A. observed the turtle nesting around 10:30 last night!

6-17 Walter created a wooden T bar probe and let Haden try it out. He probed, found a soft area and Walter confirmed it as the egg chamber:)

6-21 Bingo....Lourdes located the egg chamber and this nest became DEB36!
6-21 Lourdes probed and located the egg chamber and this became nest DEB36!

6-22 Bob B., walking the Middle, captured this image of the eerie storm clouds of a surprise thunderstorm.

6-22 Wendy's panoramic photo from Hobcaw Beach shows the strange stratus clouds associated with the wicked storm that passed blew through the area.

6-24 These vials are headed to SCDNR and contain eggshells collected from nests laid at DEB/HOB/NTH. The DNA they contain gives us a lot of information about the travels of these turtles this season.

6-26 Assisted by Buffie and Mark, Bob is happy to have completed his second relocated nest...a lot of work!

6-30 We are calling this turtle 'Barnacle Betty' because she has a line up the left side of her crawl, likely a barnacle on her belly. This was her 4th false crawl in 3 days:(

6-30 This turtle crawled right over DEB36 and nested on top of the dune in front of N. Beach Villas.

7-1 HOB46 nested right behind HOB33 and could be the same turtle returning...if so, DNA will tell us.

7-2 HOB48 was laid low on the beach but was above the wrack line of the King tide. Martha left it natural.

7-3 Mark and Buffie both probed the nest and found a soft spot but Pat had to use her metal probe to locate the eggs 20 in. deep.

7-4 At 9:00 last night a lady watched a turtle try to climb the pushed up dune in Ocean Green. She couldn't make it up or dig her chamber and returned to the ocean.

7-5 This turtle likes to climb high dunes and is likely the same one that tried in Ocean Green yesterday.

7-7 This turtle left an open chamber maybe due to roots or she could have been scared off by coyotes. Tracks wee seen nearby.

7-9 A turtle laid her nest at the foot of the middle steps at the Beach Villas. Mark located the egg chamber. The nest was moved north to better habitat.

7-9 HOB57 located her nest just behind HOB08 on the right. Could be a trio of nests by the same female. DNA will tell us if so!

7-12 Buffie studied the body pit area and decided where the egg chamber would likely be and then began probing.

7-12 Having run out of supplies during this amazing season, Buffie and Mark used a new marking system on HOB61.

7-13 DEB53 was found north #5mm in front of N. Beach Villas. Judie's find was DeBordieu & Hobcaw's 114th nest!

7-14 Haden probed and located the egg chamber of 'Barnacle Betty', the turtle with a distinctive scrape up her crawl. Go Haden!

7-15 DEB55 was laid around 11:00 p.m. 7/14 and obseved by Buffie and Mark as she returned to the ocean. Bob C., walking with Tom this morning, located the egg chamber.

7-15 The current edition of Garden & Gun has a great article about the SC Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital. Their patients are sick/injured loggerheads that they rehab with the goal of returning them to the ocean.

7-16 HOB64 laid her nest a bit too low on the beach. Martha, Buffie and Mark decided to relocate to safer habitat.

7-16 Mark watches Buffie carefully remove the eggs from the nest of HOB64 laid too low on the beach.

7-16 Buffie replaces the eggs of HOB64 in the newly dug chamber, a safer habitat for the nest to incubate.

7-17 This turtle nested low on the beach so Pat O., Buffie and Mark relocated the clutch to safer incubating habitat (DEB58)

7-17 A turtle just hatching out of its shell drew many interested onlookers. It eventually wiggled out of the shell and crawled around in the sand-filled bucket.

7-17 The crowd of about 75 people formed 2 lines to give the lone hatchling a runway to the ocean...its new watery home!

7-18 The crowd gives the 2 hatchlings a proper send off into the blue Atlantic. Their destination is the Gulf Stream, a frantic 60 mile swim!

7-20 The turtle that laid HOB65 pulled up the screen of another nest and covered her chamber for about 5 feet!

7-23 DEB10 in front of N. Beach Villas had a big hatch. Beth and Pat St counted 40 tracks. We will inventory this nest Friday at 6:00 p.m.!

7-23 Kathi A., out for a bike ride, found Robin doing the inventory of HOB05. It had a good hatch success of 90%!

7-23 The DNA of HOB05 shows she is a traveler. In 2016 she nested at Cape Hatteras and then swam 167 miles to the SC lowcountry for her remaining nests.

7-24 Duane did his first solo inventory of HOB11. It had a great hatch success of 96% with one live hatchling to release.

7-25 This hatchling was released from the inventory of the coyote-depredated nest of DEB09 at Prince George.

7-25 Frankie and Peggy found a fresh crawl just north #13mm at Prince George and turned it into natural DEB61!

7-26 Nine hatchlings were found in the chamber of hatched DEB10. They were put in a bucket for release onto the beach.

7-29 The HOB10 inventory team dug out the contents of the nest and found 21 hatchlings that had not made it out on their own.

7-29 One hatchling had a gimpy flipper so Martha gave it a little boost past the breakers and sent it on to the Gulf Stream.

7-30 Kathi A. speaks above the encroaching high tide at the inventory of HOB15. She did a good job educating the crowd of 40-50.

7-30 Inventory attendees and volunteers lined up to give the hatchlings a proper send off into the Great Atlantic...their new watery home!

7-31 The Coastal Observer had a front page article about the hatching season and also a nice editorial.

7-31 Buffie could only watch as the King Tide rolled in and covered many of the North nests with ocean.

8-1 Nesting has slowed to a trickle so Susan was surprised to see this crawl on Hobcaw just north #13mm.

8-1 This smart mom laid her nest just above the King Tide line. Susan said the tide turtle made it easy to locate the egg chamber!

8-3 Two hatchlings were excavated from the chamber of DEB23 and put in a bucket. They were later released onto the beach to crawl to the ocean.

8-5 A hatchling was brought out of the nest of DEB13 at the DeBordieu Beach Club Walkway. Donna passed the bucket around for all to see.

8-5 The crowd gathered at the water line to see the small turtle off to his first swim in the Atlantic!

8-6 Turtle fans gathered in Ocean Green to watch the inventory of HOB29 laid high atop the pushed up dune.

8-6 One live hatchling was found in the nest that did not make it out on it's own. Because it had a deformed belly, it couldn't crawl very well. Haden gave it a lift past the first breakers where it swam free!

8-7 Prior to the morning inventory of DEB17, Haden took down the black screening that protected the hatchlings from going landward. Turtles are attracted to the brightest horizon. We want it to be the white foam of the waves and not flood lights on a house!

8-6 Volunteer Haden, a friend and cousin watch with wonder as a hatchling makes it's way to the ocean. They found the turtle on the beach and it likely came from DEB17.

8-9 One egg from each nest is taken for a 9 year DNA study. Lourdes located the chamber and brought out an egg.

8-9 One of 7 hatchlings was brought out of DEB26 at inventory. John, Marie and Beth put the turtles on the beach to crawl to the ocean.

8-9 Buffie and Mark found 4 nests that had hatched on Hobcaw this morning. This is one of the 4 that will be inventoried Monday morning.

8-9 Duane educated the crowd about loggerheads and DeBordieu & Hobcaw SCUTE's efforts to protect their nests.

8-9 Jane passed the bucket with 2 hatchlings found in the chamber of DEB24 that had not made it out on their own. These are thought to be the 'runts' and sometimes have deformities. We give them all an equal chance for survival!

8-9 The crowd was asked to form 2 lines to allow the 2 hatchlings to crawl to the ocean. They will make 3 day swim to the Gulf Stream where they will hide, rest and feed in the cover of the sargassum rafts. Here, they catch the current of the mighty Gulf Stream that carries them around the North Atlantic Gyre.

8-11 DEB33 hatched last night and the turtles headed south toward the waxing moon in the southern sky. Please remember LIGHTS OUT FOR LOGGERHEADS...they dig the DARK!

8-11 A hatchling's viewpoint is quite different at ground level. With the curve of the beach it is difficult for it to hear the ocean and orient properly.

8-12 The inventory had to really search for the egg chamber. It was not where the reed and depression were. They finally found it and completed the inventory. There were no live hatchlings left in the nest.

8-14 Pat O. and Pat St. brought out 2 lively hatchling from the inventory of DEB29. They put them on the beach where they made a beeline to the ocean!

8-15 The sunrise inventory of DEB33 just south of the N. Access Rd. brought out 3 hatchlings from the chamber that would not have made it out on their own.

8-16 Bob B. talks turtles to a group gathered for the inventory of DEB39 north of WW#6. Unfortunately for those who came, there were no live hatchlings to release. That means all that could make it out on their own were able to!

8-19 One of 13 hatchlings found in the inventory of HOB38 crawls to it's new watery home, the Atlantic Ocean!

8-18 HOB42 south #16mm on Hobcaw Beach had a major hatch with all 70+ tracks going straight to the ocean!

8-19 The major hatch of DEB40 south of WW#5 occurred at sunset last night. About 52 turtles made their way straight to the ocean!

9-10 Demonstrating how resilient they are, this nest DEB59 went through the wrath of Dorian and still managed to hatch! Buffie and Mark observed a total of 17 hatchlings make their way out of this shallow nest around 9:30 Monday night.

9-11 A few of the 11 hatchlings found in DEB58 made their way to the ocean but some were drawn landward to the setting sun.