August 1, 2017
The Summer Nor’easter on the Outer Banks dealt a deadly blow to three of the sea turtle nests on the Outer Banks of North Carolina managed by NEST. The strong winds and high tides created damage to nest enclosures and wiped out 3 loggerhead sea turtle nests. With the loss of the three nests there is currently 11 active sea turtle nests for the current sea turtle nesting season.
Only one broken sea turtle shell remaind on the beach from one of the washed out nests.
Sea turtle nests may continain 80-120 eggs per nest, so each nest loss has an impact on the threatened and endangered sea turtle population.
Rich, using gps coordinates and crawl entry data attempts to possibly find the egg chamber without any success.
The Ocean has calmed and follks are returning to enjoy the beaches of the Outer Banks; however the erosion took it’s toll on 3 of the 2017 season of sea turtle nesting.
Unfortunately there is not a before and after picture, but this aftermath pictures shows some of the beach erosion of the washed out sea turtle nest 9.
To view what sea turtle washed out nest 7, 9 and 10 looked like before the storm click here. At that link you can also view the current active sea turtle nests managed by NEST.