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Most Sea Turtles Nests in Outer Banks Unaffected By Dorian

Cape Hatteras National Seashore says of this year's record-breaking 470 nests, only about 15-percent appear to have been impacted by flooding due to overwash.

The Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Resource Management Team has been assessing the impacts of Hurricane Dorian on sea turtle nests.

Patrols of Buxton, Hatteras, and Ocracoke beaches were conducted prior to the storm to see which nests were occupied with living baby sea turtles.

Our Resource Management Team has been busy assessing the impacts of ... Hurricane Dorian on sea turtle nests within the Seashore. Prior to the storm, staff conducted patrols of Buxton, Hatteras, and Ocracoke beaches to determine which nests were still viable (have living baby sea turtles).

The pre-storm patrols indicated 166 active nests with the majority of all of them still being viable after the storm.

Despite the impacts of Hurricane Dorian, only 15% of all this year's record-breaking 470 nests appear to have been impacted from nest flooding due to over wash.

The team says there are still over 75 intact nests remaining along the seashore and they are already seeing signs of successful hatching.

Additional Information

The park's beaches have been monitored for sea turtle nesting activity since 1987. Nest numbers here have fluctuated greatly in the last 30 years with the fewest in 1987 at eleven and the peak of 325 in 2016. The number of sea turtle nests laid annually has grown from an average of 77.4 sea turtle nests from 2000-2007 to an average of 192.2 nests from 2008-2016. 

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