(Tybee Island, GA) – Sea Turtle nesting season started on the Georgia coast on May 1. The Tybee Island Marine Science Center has shared a few helpful reminders because it’s important to remember to take certain precautions during sea turtle nesting season.

Cathy Sakas, president of the Tybee Island Marine Science Foundation’s Board of Trustees said, “Please help our precious sea turtles this season by not using flashlights on the beach. Nesting females and hatchlings orient to the brightest light they see and that could be your flashlight. Your light could lead them into the sand dunes and ultimately to their death. So please do your part and turn off your flashlight.”

About the Tybee Island Sea Turtle Project: Volunteers walk the beach every morning looking for turtle tracks. Once tracks are found, the nest is located and blocked off with caution tape. Then, 50 days after the nest is found, volunteers start sitting with the nest at night, awaiting the 100 or so babies that will emerge any night. When the nest hatches, or “boils” (so many small bodies moving makes the sand look like it’s boiling), volunteers supervise and protect babies as they make their way to the water. Following the boil, volunteers wait an additional five days before performing an excavation to allow any late hatchlings to emerge naturally.Finally, an excavation is performed, where volunteers carefully dig into the nest and extract all hatched and unhatched eggs as well as any turtles left in the nest. At that time, any live stragglers are released, or if the Tybee Island Marine Science Center is ready for a new hatchling, they keep one to be our marine debris ambassador for a few years, like Ike—who hatched on September 2, 2020.

About the Tybee Island Marine Science Center: Our mission is to cultivate a responsible stewardship of coastal Georgia’s natural resources through education, conservation, and research. For more information, please go to tybeemarinescience.org.