Isle of Palms residents are seeing more sea turtles in December – the Public Works Department is installing green loggerheads at access paths on the island. The one in the picture taken by Public Works staff is at the path just south of the Sea Cabins in the front beach area of Ocean Boulevard. Many more will be appearing on other paths soon. She is sporting two flipper tags, but they are not for scientific research.
The front flipper shows the Isle of Palms city logo, and the rear flipper has a QR code, a link to the Island Turtle Team site for more information. The Turtle Team and the Environmental Advisory Committee are very pleased to see more education in this form for residents and tourists in time for the coming 2023 sea turtle nesting season. The idea came from Bev Miller, a Turtle Team member who lives in Wild Dunes, after she saw a similar sign at Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head.
With the design help of Barbara Bergwerf, it was modified to list filling in holes on the beach as the first item since this has been an increasing problem on our beach. Isle of Palms beach services officers have stepped up the effort to remind beach-goers that deep holes above the high tide line are a danger – not only to people but also to nesting female loggerheads who start laying eggs in May. The six-month season runs from the beginning of May through October, with tiny hatchlings emerging from their nests from July through the middle of October. Many thanks to the city of Isle of Palms, which funded, ordered and is installing the signs. We hope everyone will remember to fill in holes, pick up trash, keep flashlights and front beach house lights turned off around turtles or their nests and help keep those nests safe.
Mary Pringle leads the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island Turtle Team. She also is chair of the IOP Environmental Advisory Committee.
