North Carolina Sea Turtle Watchers

North Carolina Sea Turtle Watchers Volunteers find turtle tracks early mornings and sit nests at night to help guide hatchlings to the ocean safely

08/27/2026

Excavation of Nest 5 in Pine Knoll Shores

This evening Carolyn Pelletier and Jeff Pelletier excavated nest 5 and Karen Antczak inventoried the contents. In the nest, they found 114 eggshells, 3 unhatched eggs, 3 dead pipped hatchlings, and 33 live hatchlings!! The emergence success of this nest was 66.94%, however, the hatch success was a fabulous 94.21%!!

All of the live hatchlings were set on the runway to scurry down to the ocean on their own. All 33 hatchlings made it safely into the water!!

Great job, Pine Knoll Shores Sea Turtle Team!

Live video captured and shared by Suzzy Deneau

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in Pine Knoll Shores is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST07)

08/25/2026

Excavation of nest 4 in Pine Knoll Shores

Live video captured and shared by Jayne Keifer

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in Pine Knoll Shores is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST07)

08/22/2026

The story of Nest 3!

Video captured, created, and shared by Maria Cabrera-Baukus

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in Pine Knoll Shores is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST07)

08/15/2026

Excavation of nest 3 in Pine Knoll Shores

Donna and Joe Hightower excavated nest 3. Maria DeCandia took inventory of the contents. In the nest they found 97 eggshells and 15 unhatched eggs for a total clutch of 112! The hatch success and emergence success were 86.6%.

At the end of the excavation, we opened up the unhatched eggs to see why they were unsuccessful. We found some very underdeveloped embryos. This showed us that the eggs were fertilized and stopped developing after just a week or two. This can happen when the nest is impacted by different environmental events including large amount of rainfall, tidal overwash, and extreme ground temperatures on our beach.

Live video captured and shared by Karen Antczak

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in Pine Knoll Shores is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST07)

08/09/2026

Nest 19 Loggerhead around 5:30pm

Video captured, created, and shared by Maria Cabrera-Baukus.

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in Pine Knoll Shores is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST07)

08/08/2026

We have a nesting mother on our beach!!

08/07/2026

Nest 2 video!

Video captured, created, and shared by Maria Cabrera-Baukus

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in Pine Knoll Shores is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST07)

Please join us as we gather to honor and celebrate the beautiful life and lasting legacy of Peggy Deneau. Peggy brought...
08/05/2026

Please join us as we gather to honor and celebrate the beautiful life and lasting legacy of Peggy Deneau. Peggy brought us together, gave us a shared purpose, and made every single one of us feel deeply loved. Now, it is our turn to gather and celebrate the incredible impact she had on our lives. Please join us to share stories, laughter, and memories of Peggy.

We welcome and encourage you to share your favorite stories, experiences, and memories of Peggy. Let’s remember her together in the place she loved so much.

Attire: Casual beach attire

What to Bring: Please bring your own beverage and a snack or finger food to share with the group.

Date: Monday, August 10, 2026

Time: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

Location: Trinity Center Pavilion, Beach House Road, Pine Knoll Shores, NC 28512

Suzanne Deneau

08/03/2026

Pine Knoll Shores Nest 2 excavation

Katie Knight and Emily Seemar excavated nest 2 while Ava Berry inventoried the contents. In the nest they found a total clutch of 119! There were 81 eggshells and 38 unhatched eggs. The hatch success and emergence success were both 68%.

After the inventory was complete, Enzo Marcello and Suzanne Deneau joined Katie, Emily, and Ava at the nest. Together the team opened some of the unhatched eggs to see if they could find signs of embryonic development. They discovered a very tiny embryo with dots for eyes! Something must have caused the embryonic development to stop very early on in these unhatched eggs. This can be caused by many different environmental events including large amount of rainfall, tidal overwash, and extreme ground temperatures the nest experienced on our beach.

We cannot recall any overwash from king tides with this nest. It's possible that heavy rainfall or extreme ground temperatures may have caused the eggs to stop developing. It has been extremely hot this summer. Nest 2 was not the most successful nest, but it was fun and interesting to search for the embryos and try to figure out why these eggs did not hatch.

Video captured and shared by Kayla Patla

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in Pine Knoll Shores is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 26ST07)

08/01/2026

Pine Knoll Shores Sea Turtle Nest 1

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Pine Knoll Shores, NC
28512

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+12525037081

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