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The Holden Beach Turtle Watch, or Turtle Patrol as it is usually referred to, was founded in 1989 to monitor and protect the sea turtle population on Holden Beach. This all volunteer, nonprofit conservation organization operates under the authority of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. The program currently has approximately 65 members. The Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program is in its 22nd year of sea turtle monitoring and protection. Learn more..
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Baby Loggerhead Turtle
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What we do!
Starting in May, volunteers begin a dawn patrol of the beach searching for turtle crawls and possible nests. Once a sea turtle crawl is found, a team of turtle patrol volunteers assembles at the crawl location to find the eggs. If the nest is in an unsafe location, the nest will be carefully moved to a safer area on the beach. The nest site is then covered with a protective grating and marked off with stakes, ribbon and a warning sign. For the next 50-70 days of incubation the nest will be monitored for signs of an impending hatching. At that time, turtle patrol members will start a nightly watch on the nest until all of the hatchlings are released. The nest is then opened and an inventory is taken to account for any unhatched or non-fertile egg and insure that all live babies make it to the ocean. This process is repeated with each and every nest. The season ends in October when the last nest hatches.
Call our 24 hour pager: 910-754-0766
We also maintain a Stranding Team, which aids and assists deceased and injured turtles. Call our 24 hour pager at the number below (a toll free call from the Holden Beach area) to report mother turtles laying their nests, stranded turtles, or unattended hatchlings. Leave your numeric message (phone number) and stand by for a return call. 910-754-0766
Beach Home Refrigerator Magnet
This refrigerator magnet should be in every beach front home. If not contact your rental agent or any turtle patrol member you see on the beach.
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NEW! Turtle fun for the kids.
Online Turtle Coloring page, click here
this page allows children to color a Loggerhead Sea Turtle online. (Flash Plugin Required)
Print the Turtle Coloring Page, click here
print this page and color a Loggerhead Sea Turtle with your own crayons or paint.
Sea Turtle Word Scramble, click here
unscramble words that are related to sea turtles
Conjoined Twin Turtle
In a note we received from the State, we believe it is the first conjoined twin turtle (Siamese) in NC. There have been other instances of this occurring elsewhere in sea turtles and also freshwater turtles, but we have never heard of this before in NC.
We know of a pair of conjoined twin green turtles at a sea turtle education center in Mexico more than ten years old and still going strong!
In the future, when we have such an unusual birth, we have been instructed to contact our director who will in turn contact the state before we release the unusual turtle. A decision will be made as to whether it may be kept at the sea turtle hospital or the aquarium for an undetermined amount of time to allow it to grow before releasing it; hopefully, giving it a better chance of survival due to its rare condition.
For now, all we can do is hope that it swims on and grows along with the other hatchlings from nest #1 and pray that we will see our rare find back on Holden Beach in twenty or so years!
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Statistics For 2011
Current Nest Count |
False Crawls |
Strandings |
30 |
27 |
12 |
| Total Known Eggs |
Total Baby Turtles to Ocean
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3422 |
2372
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Most Recent Updates & News:
2011 Final Turtle Count
posted: October 26, 2011, 7:54 AM
We had a total of 30 turtle nests on Holden Beach this summer. All were loggerhead turtle nests. We had a total of 3422 eggs laid and 2372 turtle hatchlings released. The number of total turtles released (70%) may seem low. This can be attributed to 5 nests this year ...click to read more of this news article.
Nest 30 Photos
posted: October 8, 2011, 9:59 AM
Here is the crowd at the closing of the last nest for 2011 on October 4th. ...click to read more of this news article.
Early October Update - last three nests.
posted: October 3, 2011, 9:18 AM
It’s getting colder on the beach. Nest 28 was finally closed on the evening of the 24th with a total of 16 hatchlings released. This was a very hard luck nest that tried to the end to produce a good hatch. Washed over, washed out, baked in the sun, and ...click to read more of this news article.
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We are excited to provide video footage of a turtle nest hatching. There are 6 six video clips now available for your viewing. We hope you enjoy...
Click here to visit 'The Turtle Patrol Cinema'.
2007 - Miss Kayak was rescued and taken to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. A patrol member and three vacationers went out in Kayaks and managed to get her to shore. She has continued to do well over the winter months and should be released this spring. We added a video of her rescue to this site last fall along with additional pictures in the photo gallery. The proceeds from T-shirt sales and donations at the last two turtle talk programs have been donated to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center to help with the care of Miss Kayak.
 Click here to watch a video of "Kayak's" rescue.
Miss Kayak was released from the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. Watch the video of Miss Kayak being released here
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The Town of Holden Beach is located midway between Wilmington, North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina -- about 40 minutes driving from each. The Town is situated on an Atlantic coastal barrier island, facing south onto the Long Bay region of Brunswick County. I-95 from the north and south, I-40 from the west and US-17 south from Wilmington or north from Myrtle Beach leads to Holden Beach -- approximately 3 hours from Raleigh, or 4 hours from Charlotte or Greensboro, or 7 hours from Asheville.
For more map detail of Brunswick County, go to Brunswick Islands, and then click on "Maps".
Holden Beach has a Facebook page! Please “friend” Holden Beach to see turtle and beach updates
Visit the Holden Beach Town Hall Web Site
Thank you for buying our t-shirts at turtle talk and at the Light House Gift Shop. This is how we make money to finance the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program (like buying a new 4 wheel drive ATV). And lastly let me thank all of you who let us use your walkways and visited with us on the beach night after night. You will never know how much your support and friendship on the beach means to all of us.
If you would like to contact us or make a donation, please write to us at:
Holden Beach Turtle Patrol
PO Box 487
Supply N.C. 28462
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