This week, Hurricane Erin hit North Carolina’s barrier islands with powerful winds and waves, devastating many sea turtle nests. Unfortunately, it buried eggs deep in the sand and some were swept right into the ocean.
On Topsail Island, over half of the 43 loggerhead turtle nests were destroyed by the storm, as reported by Terry Meyer from the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue Service.
“We really weren’t anticipating such a high water table, where the eggs ended up sitting in water,” she noted. “I can’t recall ever seeing this kind of damage on such a large scale before.”
Even though Erin was considerably bigger than the typical hurricane, it never made landfall and didn’t cause much damage to infrastructure. The turtles, unfortunately, faced a different fate.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that loggerheads, known for their large heads and strong jaws, are threatened along the U.S. coast, mainly due to fishing practices. They’re the predominant sea turtle in North Carolina, nesting every two to three years during the warmer months, with each nest usually holding around 100 eggs.
Meyer expressed that while losing dozens of nests won’t drastically affect the species in the long run, it’s still disheartening. Many volunteers dedicate their summers to monitor each nest along the 26-mile stretch of beach.
“It gets exhausting digging through hatched nests, only to find 100 deceased, fully developed turtles,” she shared. “It can be pretty tough emotionally.”
To the northeast, the storm likely wiped out eight of the ten remaining loggerhead nests on Emerald Isle, according to Dalebake, the program coordinator there.
Baquer mentioned that one turtle did manage to hatch amidst the chaos. The high sand dune location might have provided some safety. However, the fate of the other nests remains uncertain until about 75 days post-incubation.
“They’ve taken quite a beating—there’s significant storm surge and pooled water,” she noted. “But we’re trying to remain hopeful.”
In response to the storm, both organizations worked to secure the area by removing stakes and fencing that could potentially cause further issues for the turtles.
However, due to North Carolina’s strict laws regarding the natural hatching of sea turtles, there’s little they can actively do. According to Baquer, intervention is only approved when nests have already hatched or if the tide is in danger of washing away the eggs.
“It’s stressful, and it’s not something anyone gets used to, yet we sort of understand this is part of nature,” she reflected.
