Turtles

Our pristine island is widely know as a choice nesting ground for Loggerhead Turtles.  The Edisto Beach Loggerhead Turtle Project assists the turtles with public education, patrols, protecting, identifying, and monitoring of nests,  and gathering data.  Although guests can join the turtle volunteers on their patrols, their primary focus is not providing tours.  (Details on tours are listed below.)  Walking on the beach is permitted at night, and use of a normal intensity flashlight is fine.  The major concerns regarding turtles involves larger porch, security, or street lights.  Smaller lights that illuminate your immediate pathway should not be a problem.  We always suggest that visitors choose lights that are not too bright, and use them sparingly.

 

The following organizations make significant contributions through educational efforts and specific steps to protect the turtles and their nesting areas:

 

The Edisto Beach Loggerhead Turtle Project (P. O. Box 204, Edisto Island SC 29438, 843-869-9030, 843-869-4422)

 

The Edisto Beach Loggerhead Turtle Project has a group of dedicated volunteers that walk our beaches each morning from May through October looking for turtle tracks.  They will first mark the area with flags and then locate the nest.  If the nest is in an area that is threatened by the tides, they will relocate the nest to higher ground.  Nests are marked with a yellow sign and stakes are placed around the nest.  The volunteers perform many duties essential to the protection of the nests, primarily checking each one as they make their morning rounds.  Once the nest has hatched, the volunteers collect valuable data to report to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

 

The volunteers cannot do their job without the assistance of the public.  You can help by reporting any unauthorized activities, disturbance of nests, or harassment of nesting females to proper authorities.  If you see unmarked turtle tracks, an injured turtle, or a dead sea turtle, please check the stakes in that territory for the phone numbers of the volunteers who are responsible for that particular area.

 

Learning through Loggerheads (843-869-2998, ltlturtles@gmail.com, or www.ltlonline.org)

 

Learning through Loggerheads hatched as a nonprofit with 501(c)3 status from a loggerhead sea turtle project management effort that started nine years ago.  Their efforts are visible as part of the loggerhead sea turtle protection project currently focused on Botany Island (located north of Edisto Island). This area is the second highest nesting population of loggerhead sea turtles in the state of South Carolina.  Through this project, local middle and high school students work as interns during the summer months. The management of the project (through a scholarship program) is the only opportunity of its kind on the South Carolina coast where student interns are trained, work and are paid for their internships.  Interns participate in all aspects of the loggerheads’ protection through daily monitoring, nest protection, data collection and educational outreach for the second largest nesting aggregation on the South Carolina coast.  Learning through Loggerheads has established annual collaborative programs with The South Carolina Aquarium, The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo, and The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

 

Edisto Beach Interpretive Center (843-869-4430, 8377 State Cabin Rd., Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.)

 

With the theme “Choosing to Protect Our Coast,” the Edisto Interpretive Center helps promote the wise use of coastal resources. It is headquarters for Edisto Beach State Park’s interpretive programs and curriculum-based field studies, and for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ education and research services. An exhibit in the center features interactive displays, including a touch tank, which helps visitors understand the fragile resources of the ACE Basin estuarine reserve, the largest such natural reserve on the East Coast.  Loggerhead Sea Turtle Walks are held during the summer months.

 

Turtle Related Tours:

Frequently visitors want to either see a turtle laying eggs or watch the hatchlings make their way back to the water.  Remember that turtle sightings, hatching, etc. are entirely on the turtle’s schedule and thus you cannot schedule a visit or walk to observe these events in their life cycle.  While the Edisto Beach Loggerhead Turtle Project and The Learning through Loggerheads Organization focuses their efforts on protection and education about the turtles and their nests, visitors who would like an educational tour should consider the following options:

 

• The Edisto Interpretive Center (843-869-4430) hosts Loggerhead Sea Turtle Walks every Tuesday and Thursday nights (June, July, and August).  Call for reservations, and note that these walks are not suitable for Children under the age of eleven.

 

• Botany Bay Ecotours (843-869-2998, tours@botanybayplantation.com, www.botanybayplantation.com) provides eco tours crafted to help people enjoy and understand the amazing plants and animals that make this area their home.  Their turtle walks are held each week from May through September.  Their programs combine cultural history with the natural history because they have been inextricably linked since humans first arrived along our coast. They support environmental stewardship by donating a portion of their proceeds to the Learning through Loggerheads student conservation program and local non-profits like the Edisto Island Community Association scholarship fund.