COASTAL OBSERVER

Heather Walker wondered about the people in white T-shirts and walking up and down the south end of Pawleys Island.

“Who are these people? They all wear the same turtle shirt,” she said. But the Pennsylvania native didn’t stay curious for long. “Finally I just stopped somebody one day.”

They were the S.C. United Turtle Enthusiasts, a group of volunteers who monitor sea turtle nesting activity in Georgetown  and Horry counties.

Walker joined as an alternate after she and her husband, Jeff, moved to the island from Mount Pleasant last year.

“As an alternate, it was nice because you would get different sections on different days and different people,” Walker said. “I was just kind of along for the ride.”

One of those people was Sheila O’Shaughnessy, who is beginning her seventh season with SCUTE. After two strolls, O’Shaughnessy recommended her for a permanent walker spot.

“I decided, let’s partner up,” O’Shaughnessy said.

Walker said she felt special to rise to the position regular walker since there is a waiting list.

“It’s pretty sought after,” Walker added.

Volunteers  were up with the sun last Friday to make the first walk of the season. Many of them were wishing that their T-shirts were sweatshirts that morning.

“My eyes are watering and I’m shivering, but I’m OK,” Walker said as she embarked on her first stroll as a permanent walker. “In the middle of the summer we’ll wish we had this.”

SCUTE recorded 20 nests on Pawleys Island last year. It predicts there will be 32 on the island this year.

Last season’s nests had an 84 percent success rate. Eight turtles that laid eggs returned from a previous year. Six turtles were repeat nesters who had returned every two or three years since 2010. Four turtles were first-time nesters, or “recruits.”

Walker and O’Shaughnessy walked the beach looking for signs of turtle tracks before the incoming tide washed them away.

“They’re quite distinctive,” O’Shaughnessy said.

SCUTE divides the island into four sections for its patrols. The south end averages four to five nests each season, she added.

South Carolina recorded its first sea turtle nests on May 6 near Charleston.  Georgetown County’s first nest was last Thursday at DeBordieu.

Pawleys Island got its first two nests on Monday, and by Thursday it had seven. Huntington Beach State Park and Prince George also saw their first nests of the year.

“It gets busier,” O’Shaughnessy said.

“Everybody gets very excited,” Walker said.

 The season will run through the end of October when the last nests usually hatch. 

A female may lay several nests with more than 100 eggs in each up until mid-August.

“Think about that. You’re a mom carrying around 300 or 400 eggs in your stomach for an entire season,” Walker said. “It’s just wild.”

“It’s so laborious,” O’Shaughnessy said.

There have been almost 31,000 live hatchlings released from Pawleys Island since 2010.

 Although they didn’t discover any nests on Friday morning, Walker and O’Shaughnessy still made use of their time by picking up litter.

“There’s going to be plenty of nests,” Walker said. “It’s hard to argue with walking at sunrise and looking for turtles. Life could be a lot worse.”

Once the volunteers find a nest, they contact the area coordinator to protect it. Area leads lay down mesh screens and post signage to mark the nesting area.

If a nest is located below the high tide mark or in a high traffic area, the coordinator will relocate the nest. Only SCUTE volunteers holding permits from the state Department of Natural Resources are able to touch the turtle eggs or hatchlings.

“We stand by and watch,” Walker said.

Later on in the season, walkers check in on existing nests to make sure they were not disturbed.

The nests face predators like coyotes and foxes at times but it’s rare.

“Probably, the bigger threat is people,” Walker said as they passed an uncovered hole someone had dug in the beach.

A hatchling can fall into the hole and won’t be able to make its way out, she said. Hatchlings make their way to the surf at night, following the horizon with the brightest illumination. The hatchlings  can mistake artificial beachfront lighting for the moon’s glow, often with fatal consequences.