Its Sea Turtle Nesting Season

It is Sea Turtle nesting season and as of May 18th 2009 Ocean Isle Beach Turtle Patrol had 11 adopted nests adopted.

Gloria Hillenburg – Coordinator of the Turtle Patrol says “We are hoping for a large Turtle return this year. We will be waiting for the Moms to come in and lay their eggs so we can protect them and get their babies out to sea to make their long journey, only to return to our Island and start the process all over again.”

Anyone who would like to adopt a nest please get in touch with Gloria at (910)754-9513.

The Winds Resort Beach Club on Ocean Isle Beach has “adopted” a Sea Turtle nest. They want you to name their turtle!

Email your Turtle Name suggestions to: garypope@thewinds.com for consideration. All suggested names must be in by next Friday June 16th. The winning name will be chosen by a vote by The Winds’ staff!

This year the Turtle Patrol’s BIG TURTLE DAY will be held on JULY 8TH it is a Wednesday, from 10 a.m. until 2:30 P.M. The Turtle Patrol Sea Turtle will arrive at 11 a.m. with Jean Beasley and her fine crew bringing it down from the Sea Turtle Hospital at Topsail Beach. We will have a silent auction and 2 Children activities. This will give visitors a chance to come in on Sat. see the parade on Sunday enjoy the beach on Monday, come to the Turtle Presentation on Tuesday, then come to see a live turtle on Wednesday, what a great way to start a week.

You can help the turtles when you visit Ocean Isle By following a few simple guidelines:

Do Not Disturb: If you see an adult sea turtle coming on shore, stay quiet and keep your distance! Otherwise she may get scared and go back into the ocean without nesting. They are an endangered species and it is a federal offense to harass them.

Turn Off All Flashlights! Lights may scare or confuse the adult female and cause her to leave without nesting.
Lights Cause Hatchlings To Go In the Wrong Direction: Please turn off all outside lights each night. Also if there are curtains or blinds use them so your indoor lights do not lead the hatchlings away from the ocean.

Never Pick Up A Hatchling. It is critical that they crawl on their own.
Do Not Disturb The Nest Area. Watch for the nest markers.

Stay Off Sand Dunes & Do Not Pick Sea Oats. Sand dunes provide critical habitat for sea turtles and help prevent flooding during times of extreme tides and storms. Foot traffic kills plants and severely damages the sand dunes. The penalty for failure to adhere to this requirement is a $100 fine.

Help Us Keep Our Beaches Clean -Sea turtles may mistake a plastic bag or other forms of litter for a jellyfish (they eat them). All personal items and equipment must be removed from the beach each day- these items may trap a sea turtle.

Please fill in all holes on the beach when done playing.- Holes can trap sea turtles and are a safety hazard to humans.

Keep dogs on leashes at all times!- No dogs shall be permitted on the beach strand between the hours of 9:00am and 6:00pm during period of Memorial Day through Labor Day regardless of whether they are leashed or not.
Fireworks can scare off nesting sea turtles and leave behind trash that may be mistaken for food by marine wildlife.- Discharge of fireworks is not permitted per North Carolina state laws.

Please Report all sightings of nesting turtles, dead turtles, unmarked nests or crawls (looks like a bulldozer came out of the water).

Call the Ocean Isle Beach Turtle Patrol at 910-754-9513 or 910-232-7232

You can send donations to: OIB Turtle Watch, PO Box 5172, Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28469. Please include your name, the name of your nest and your mailing address. Keep up wtih the Turtle Patrol at: http://www.oibturtlepatrol.com