An 11-year-old sea-turtle nesting record was shattered Monday on Hilton Head Island, as nest No. 222 for 2010 was spotted by turtle enthusiasts.
The previous record for the island was 218 nests in 1999, according to the Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Project. The number already spotted in July holds special significance, sea turtle lovers say, because it could increase before nesting season ends in late August.
Hilton Head Island ranks second in the state for number of turtle nests, according to SeaTurtle.org, a national tracking website. Cape Island near McClellanville leads with 931.
Hunting Island could break a record, as well. It has 108 nests so far this year, five fewer than the record of 113 in 1994, ranger Mitch Helms said. This year's number is 20 more than last year and 48 more than 2008.
"It's an exceptionally good year; these numbers are really high," Helms said. "But it will likely slow down to a trickle, and we might be near topping out right now."
Statewide, nesting numbers are up significantly. SeaTurtle.org shows 2,724 nests have been spotted this year in South Carolina, while only 2,194 were spotted last year.
The surge on Hilton Head, which has the most sea turtle nests in Beaufort County, might be the result of the island turtle project, which started in 1985 to help the threatened animal, said Amy Tressler, project director. Turtles typically take 25 years to reach reproductive maturity, and Tressler said it's likely turtles protected in the early years of the project are reproducing now for the first time.
"There could be between 10 or 20 more nests on Hilton Head Island," she said. "So it's a pretty exciting year for us."
More turtles are nesting on Harbor and Daufuskie islands this year, too.
Sixty-three nests have been spotted on Daufuskie Island, more than double the 31 discovered last year. Thirty nests have been found on Harbor Island, up five from last year.
Twenty-five nests have been spotted so far on Fripp Island. That's about normal, Fripp sea turtle coordinator Janie Lackman said, as 27 were spotted in 2009.
Lackman attributed the smaller number to fewer nesting areas because of erosion. But she said she's happy with the turtles that have stopped on Fripp Island and was only a little envious of her neighbor to the southwest.
"Tell them to send my turtles back," Lackman said of Hilton Head Island. "I'm just kidding. Good for them."
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