Storms like Hurricane Erin pose a perennial threat to sea turtle nests on North Carolina coast

Waves pushed onto the North Carolina coast by Hurricane Erin led to flooding on roads and a less visible yet significant impact to local wildlife — the sea turtle nests that dot the shoreline. The nests, carefully tended by conservationists, can be damaged by surging waters which swamp buried eggs.

Marie Palmer, is a volunteer with the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Surf City and the caretaker of a six-mile stretch of beach in Onslow County.

She explained, “Even though they’re in their shells, they’re porous, and they breathe through that shell, so when water comes in it stops that process,” she said.

Before the storm, Palmer had 18 nests under her watch.

In addition to the urgent threat of sea surge, erosion year-round reshapes North Carolina beaches in a way that makes it harder for turtles to lay their eggs.

“The turtles typically are supposed to lay on the dunes, but they don’t. We have a lot of what’s called escarpment,” Palmer said. “It’s been eroded out, and it goes straight up.”

Turtles lay their eggs on these ledges, rather than securely on top of a dune. The precarious positioning leaves the nests vulnerable to encroaching high tides brought on by storms like Erin. 

“Even if we’re not directly getting hit, it’s the high tides that are a problem,” Palmer said.

She found good news when she checked on her charges Wednesday. At least one nest of turtles had hatched and made it safely into the ocean. The rest of her trek showed dunes holding steady.

Palmer asked that visitors to North Carolina’s beaches respect any nests they spot, and call for help if they find a next in distress. 

“Please call us. We always come out,” she said.