This week, Caswell Beach Turtle Watch conducted their final volunteer meeting of 2026 and had a “surprise” front-page feature in the State Port Pilot. Read more about our last turtle, “Sophie” in their write-up for our season end.
Each year, our turtle protection group meets to review the results and lessons of the season, shares our favorite turtle stories and enjoys some great food together. Since our teams are split up and each are busy during the season, it can be challenging to understand all that happened throughout the summer. We always have some great tidbits to share!
Did You Know?
• If you follow our web site and social media, you likely know by now that we had a RECORD 111 NESTS this year. First time ever! And, yes, we are very excited about that. it means our efforts are working despite the odds!
• Based upon our inventory results, we had 10,192 sea turtle eggs laid. Of those, 9,332 hatched!
• Our earliest incubation/emergence was at 44 days! This would be a new record for loggerheads, but without our officials seeing it first hand it will need to remain folklore for now! Two other nests hatched at 46 days. Our longest incubation was 70 days!
• We had two sea turtle mamas nest during daylight hours this year, one in the early evening and one in the morning. A rare treat!
• The legendary Southport Sea Turtle Mama, Pebbles, returned this year, and brought a friend (or daughter)? Our 2026 DNA will tell. Stay tuned!
• Our largest nest had 150 eggs, our smallest had 51 eggs!
• We had 108 active volunteers spent more than 9,200 hours and drove over 40,000 miles to perform their mission!
• Our emergency beach vehicle fundraiser helped purchase and pay off a new beach UTV. We could not have functioned without this, and are extremely grateful for all of the donations that helped pay for this and all we need to do!
And last but not least, a special thanks to all of our wonderful beach visitors this year! We had so many questions, calls, and made so many supportive new friends as they joined us for nest sitting each evening! That made this a record year as well!
As we all hunker down for the holidays, please keep Caswell Beach Turtle Watch in mind!
Adopt a Nest for your family as a holiday treat!
Shop our online store for last minute gifts!
Keep an eye out on our Facebook Page for our holiday raffles for some local sought-after finds!
Follow our articles and posts for further updates on our off-season fundraisers and our Sea Turtle Mama (and Daddy this year) DNA results.
And don’t forget, our ONLINE STORE now sells T-Shirts, Hats and more ALL SEASON LONG. Great holiday gift ideas!
Keep our HOTLINE handy – there are turtles around year round especially cold stuns during the winter.
**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST03).
YOU CAN HELP! If you see a sea turtle mama coming onto the beach and and attempting to nest, please call our hotline immediately (910-368-6323) to notify us. During sea turtle season, we monitor 24/7. Please educate your family, friends, neighbors and especially – your renters. ALWAYS feel free to reach out to us if there is a concern, or you have questions. (All contact info is at the top of the page.)