Rare Loggerhead Turtles Nesting, Making A Comeback To Georgia Coast, Threatened Species Nears 3K Nests

Loggerhead turtles had built nests on the coast of Georgia in the midst of a strong nesting season on southern Atlantic beaches. They arrived to Georgia with the help of a number of factors according to experts.

Mark Dodd, coordinator for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Sea Turtle Program, said that they never thought that the rare loggerhead sea turtles would get there quickly. However, he cautioned that it is too early to declare that the loggerheads are a recovered species. He added that it is a great milestone and a place to stop and congratulate everyone in his team.

The loggerhead turtles were assisted by a number of factors in their way toward recovery in Georgia, Dodd explained. This includes the use of shrimp nets with built-in escape hatches for turtles and the island communities that limit artificial light along beaches at night. This policy avoided disorienting hatchlings that are trying to find their way to the sea. The loggerhead turtles nesting season is not over yet, but officials announced that they have already counted more than 2,890 sea turtle nests this year, along about 100 miles of coastline, The Christian Science Monitor reported.

Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have reported huge nest numbers since the season for loggerheads began on May 1. As of July 15, Friday, South Carolina was close to its 2013 record of 5,193 loggerhead nests, according to the coordinator of the state's sea turtle program, Michelle Pate. North Carolina was a little more than 200 nests shy of its 2013 record number, 1,304; a number above average, according to Matthew Godfrey, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission sea turtle coordinator.

Loggerhead turtle nests target that was set years ago for Georgia was to reach 2,800 nests by 2028, which is 50 years after the federal government listed loggerhead sea turtles as a threatened species, Ooyuz Beta reported. However, according to Dodd, the nesting is expected to continue for several weeks and he believes they could easily top 3,000 nests this year.