SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Sea turtle nesting season is winding down along the South Carolina and Georgia coastlines and it’s been a season of highs, lows, and a few surprises. looked into the challenges these creatures are facing this season.
From Tybee Island to Hilton Head… conservationists are keeping a close eye on every hatchling and say there’s still a lot to learn and a lot to be hopeful about. This year’s unexpected weather and recent heavy rainfall provide the background to this year’s turtle numbers.

Hilton Head recorded 237 nests this season – well below the expected 350. Officials say this drop may be linked to unusually cold ocean temperatures from last winter’s rare snowfall, which could have disrupted food availability.

“We expected more back, but we did have snow this past winter. The last time that happened, we also had a down year. The turtles were a little cautious this year,” said Amber Kuehn, the Director of Sea Turtle Patrol for Hilton Head Island.

This cautiousness also shows in false crawls. Hilton Head also saw an unusually high rate of false crawls, where turtles come ashore but leave without nesting, which is a possible sign of environmental stress or beach interference.

“Our nests versus false crawls ratios’s been really high and it has for the whole state (of South Carolina). We had like 89% false crawls versus nests, which is usually around 50%,” said Kuehn.

Over on Tybee, 19 nests were recorded. The number of nests is a strong showing for the Island’s size and development. However, excessive rainfall and flooding have left many nests at risk.
So far, only 14 have successfully hatched. Tybee in August alone saw about 2 feet of rainfall, double the Island’s average.

“The remaining nests that haven’t hatched yet. They all had sitting water on them. I wouldn’t be shocked if the rest of the remaining nests didn’t hatch this season because of that sitting water,” said Alli Caldwell, the Programs Director of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.

While nesting season officially runs through October, most of the laying has already wrapped up, and hatchlings are currently making their way to sea. Conservationists say public awareness, like filling in beach holes and keeping lights low, can make a big difference.

“It surprises me how much people don’t understand how leaving a hole unfilled can affect the nesting process and how just leaving a trail can change everything. Our human impact trail can affect wildlife,” said Caldwell.

Each year, only 1 in 1,000 sea turtles will survive to adulthood. That’s why every nest and every hatchling matters. Sea turtles generally skip two years between their nesting intervals. So this nesting season may not have broken records, both islands are hoping for a bounce-back year in 2026.