As July came to a close, I was lucky enough to observe what thousands of visitors to this island only hope to get a glimpse of – baby sea turtles making their way down the sand towards the water at dusk.
The hundreds of attendees who volunteered for Sea Turtle Patrol’s Put the Beach to Bed event July 19 near the Hilton Oceanfront Resort in Palmetto Dunes were told to stick around after filling in holes and picking up garbage – there was a chance of seeing something really special that night.
Amber Kuehn, executive director of Hilton Head Island’s Sea Turtle Patrol, informed the crowd that she and other Sea Turtle Patrol permitted volunteers would be taking inventory of four sea turtle nests, just a few yards from each other, that had all hatched in the past three days. This process is done to log how many eggs were laid, how many hatched, and to assist any remaining baby sea turtles make it to the water without incident.
There is never a guarantee that there will be stragglers in the nest, but with four being inventoried that night, the Sea Turtle Patrol team had a pretty good feeling that we might get to see a few. When Kym Castillo, longtime local and Sea Turtle Patrol volunteer for 23 years, excitedly held up one tiny baby loggerhead turtle from the nest, a sound of awe and excitement rose up. Kids squealed in delight as they observed the tiny creature making little swimming motions with its tiny flippers. Simultaneously, another nest was being inventoried and Brooke Peck texted me from down the beach: “12 hatchlings!”
What followed was careful instruction from the Sea Turtle patrol team to ensure the tiny creatures had a clear path to the water amongst the hundreds of feet surrounding them. “Do not move,” instructed Castillo. “Pretend your feet are stuck in cement!” Gasps and cheers erupted from the onlookers as the waves came in and out and the baby loggerheads determinedly made their way to the ocean.
I’ve had the pleasure of riding along on the morning patrol more than once with Kuehn and her team of enthusiastic conservationists, so I’m no stranger to all that is done by this team to ensure these majestic creatures continue to see Hilton Head Island as a hospitable place to lay their eggs. Actually getting to see the fruits of their labor in the way of baby loggerheads was something special though, I have to say.
I can think of no better way to kick off the last in our series of summer fun issues than to share this story with y’all.
Enjoy the dog days of summer – it’ll be Halloween before you know it.