134 Nests, 1,000 Miles, and Thousands of Tiny Flippers: Celebrating Folly Beach Turtle Watch’s 2026 Season

As sea turtle nesting season winds down, we’re celebrating the dedicated volunteers and caring community who help make Folly Beach a special place for our flippered friends.

Long before the first beach chairs are unfolded and the morning’s first surfers paddle out, a dedicated group of volunteers is already walking the shoreline of Folly Beach. Their mission? To look for turtle tracks, protect precious nests, and give the next generation of sea turtles the best possible start.

This year, those early mornings have added up to something extraordinary.

With 134 sea turtle nests, more than 10,000 hatchlings emerged, and over 1,000 miles walked, Folly Beach Turtle Watch has plenty to celebrate as the 2026 nesting season draws to a close.

And behind every one of those numbers is a community that cares deeply about the wildlife that makes our little island so special.

A Season Worth Celebrating

From May 1 through October 8, Folly Beach Turtle Watch volunteers patrolled the sand for 161 consecutive mornings, covering more than 1,000 miles of shoreline in search of signs of nesting activity.

Their dedication helped make 2026 one of Folly Beach’s strongest nesting seasons in recent years, with 134 nests recorded, including 133 loggerhead nests and one green sea turtle nest.

The season’s numbers tell an impressive story.

2026 Sea Turtle Season by the Numbers (as of October 8):

• 134 nests recorded along Folly Beach
• 15,074 eggs laid
• 11,191 eggs hatched
• 10,790 hatchlings emerged from their nests
• 74% average hatch success
• 60 nests relocated to safer locations
• 87 false crawls recorded
• 6 sea turtle strandings responded to
• 3,000+ volunteer hours dedicated to morning patrols and nest inventories

To put those 134 nests into perspective, Folly Beach recorded just 59 nests in 2025. This year’s total more than doubled that number and even surpassed the 130 nests recorded in 2023.

It’s an exciting result for the island and a wonderful reminder of why protecting these nesting grounds matters.

The People Behind the Turtle Tracks

While the turtles may be the stars of the show, the volunteers of Folly Beach Turtle Watch deserve a standing ovation of their own.

Throughout the season, these dedicated neighbors rise before the sun to patrol the beach, identify new nests, monitor nesting activity, and carefully relocate eggs when a nest is threatened by environmental conditions.

Their work doesn’t stop when the hatchlings emerge, either.

Volunteers conduct nest inventories after hatching, carefully examining the nest contents to help determine how many eggs hatched and how successfully the hatchlings emerged. This important information helps conservation teams better understand nesting activity and the challenges sea turtles face.

This season, volunteers also responded to six sea turtle strandings, contributing additional time and care beyond their regular monitoring duties.

All told, the team has contributed more than 3,000 hours to morning patrols and nest inventories alone.

That’s an incredible amount of time spent caring for Folly’s coastline, and a beautiful example of the community spirit that makes our island so special.

A Little Help from the Folly Community

Protecting sea turtles is a community effort, and Folly Beach residents, businesses, and visitors all have an important role to play.

One of the simplest ways to help? Keep the beach dark after sunset.

Sea turtle hatchlings rely on natural light cues to find their way toward the ocean. Artificial lighting from beachfront properties, flashlights, and other sources can disorient them, leading them away from the water.

Throughout nesting season, our community helps give these tiny travelers a better chance by keeping unnecessary lights off and giving marked nests the space they need.

Other small acts make a meaningful difference, too. Filling holes in the sand, removing beach equipment at the end of the day, properly disposing of trash, and observing turtles from a respectful distance all help keep our shoreline welcoming for wildlife.

To everyone who has turned off a porch light, respected a nesting area, or helped spread the word about sea turtle safety, thank you.

Your care for Folly Beach is part of what makes this island such a remarkable place to visit and call home.

One Last Nest, One Remarkable Season

Although the 2026 nesting season is winding down, the story isn’t quite finished.

As of October 8, three nests were still awaiting hatching. By mid-October, that number had dropped to just one, with the team eagerly awaiting the season’s final hatchlings and nest inventory.

While South Carolina’s official sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 through October 31, Folly Beach Turtle Watch’s season concludes once the island’s final nest has been inventoried. With just one nest remaining as of mid-October, the team is approaching the finish line on another remarkable season of conservation work.

And while we celebrate this year’s impressive results, we’re reminded that every successful nesting season begins with a commitment to caring for the beach we all love.

To the incredible Folly Beach Turtle Watch volunteers, thank you for your dedication, your countless early mornings, and the care you bring to every nest.

And to our Folly Beach community, thank you for helping protect the natural beauty and wildlife that make this island one of a kind.

Here’s to 134 nests, thousands of tiny flippers, and another unforgettable turtle season on the Edge of America!

To learn more about the team and follow their conservation efforts, visit Folly Beach Turtle Watch on Facebook.