Adopt-a-Nest Program

Sea Island is the nesting and hatching location for threatened loggerhead sea turtles from mid-May to early October. Nest adoptions for the 2024 season have closed and the waitlist for 2025 is now open. If you are looking to participate without adopting a nest, please consider making a general donation. The entire amount of your donation will go directly into the Wildlife Fund of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for conservation along the Georgia coast.

Make a General Donation Join the 2025 Waitlist

How much has the Sea Island Adopt-a-Nest Project grown over the years?

Since this program began, Sea Island members, guests, team members, and members of the local community have contributed a total of $198,500 to sea turtle conservation. In recent years, the Sea Island Nature Team created a renewed focus of the initiative. Through outreach and a redesign of the adoption packages, we were able to raise a record-setting $72,500 last summer alone! 100% of the proceeds from this project go to the Wildlife Conservation Fund within the Georgia Department of Natural Resources which relies solely on federal grants and donations to operate. Proceeds directly assist in conducting research, collecting data, and training sea turtle technicians along the Georgia coast.

Where have the donation dollars been used in the past?

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources requires approximately $220,000 a year to operate the state’s sea turtle conservation program. Donations to Sea Island Adopt-a-Nest project have been used for two main initiatives over the years. These include; hiring seasonal staff to survey remote beaches for sea turtle nesting activity on islands such as Sapelo and Ossabaw, and purchasing survey equipment such as ATVs, fuel, wooden stakes, and predator screens. These supplies allow technicians to patrol the full length of Georgia’s beaches and work to protect the threatened loggerhead sea turtle population. In 2023 specifically, the funds raised through Sea Island Adopt-A-Nest were also critical to keeping the Georgia loggerhead sea turtle genetics project going. This multi-decade research project has allowed technicians to identify exactly which mother sea turtle has laid each nest along the Georgia coast, and in turn, has been vital to understanding the size of the population.

What is the goal for the 2024 season?

This summer, we hope to raise enough money to continue funding the sea turtle genetics project and provide supplies for our neighboring islands to protect each nest along Georgia beaches.

It takes about 30 years for sea turtles to return to their natal beaches and begin nesting. We can now safely say that the success of both the 2022 and 2023 sea turtle seasons were largely due to the conservation efforts of those who were dedicated to protecting sea turtles three decades ago. Our long-term hope is that 30 years from now, our children and grandchildren will experience this same natural wonder thanks to the protection efforts happening today.

Sea Turtle Activity

Nests

A nest is created when a mother turtle emerges from the ocean and lays her 100-150 eggs on the beach. When the mother turtle finds the perfect spot on the dry sand, she digs an egg chamber with her hind flippers and deposits her eggs. She then covers them up and throws sand to camouflage her nest from predators such as raccoons, armadillos, and wild hogs. Then she will return to the ocean. She can lay four to five nests per season, but never comes back and checks on them. The nest then takes 45-60 days to hatch.

False Crawls

A false crawl is when a mother turtle comes up on the beach and does not nest. You can see the crawl tracks without a distinct body pit. Usually the mother turtle spends much less time on the beach during a false crawl than when she lays a nest. She could emerge from the ocean without nesting for many reasons including not liking the sand consistency, running into something like a sand castle or chair left out on the beach, encountering a bright light from a house or flashlight, or being spooked by a predator or humans. In a normal season the false crawls result in a little less than half of the sea turtle activity that is found on the beach.

Then and Now

2023 Season Updates

• Nests: 130 (This was our second-highest season on record!)

• First Nest Emergence: May 9, 2023

• Estimated Hatchlings Entering Ocean: 8,084

• Estimated eggs: 12,722

• Unique mother turtles identified by DNA sampling: 54

• Cups of Coffee Consumed by Nature Team: 368

• Miles Covered on Dawn Patrol: 1,510

2024 Season Updates

As fo July 29

• Nests: 94

• False Crawls: 47

• First Nest: May 11

• First Hatch: July 2

• Days of Patrol: 89

• Miles Covered on Dawn Patrol: 389.26 miles

Sea Turtle Lighting Ordinance for Sea Island

From May 1-October 31 all members and guests shall adhere to the Glynn County Sea Turtle Season Lighting Ordinance. White lights are prohibited on the beach at night during this time frame. Red sea turtle-friendly lights may be used as an alternative.

Do not touch or disturb a sea turtle nest on the beach.
Do not touch or disturb a nesting or hatching sea turtle. Please observe from a distance.
Members and guests shall remove all personal items from the beach upon departure each day as not to obstruct sea turtle nesting and hatching. This includes but is not limited to chairs, tents, coolers, umbrellas, flotation devices, beach toys, etc.
If a deceased or injured sea turtle is encountered, please call the Sea Island Nature Center at (912) 634-4499.