Rare sea turtles pass 50-year recovery milestone in Ga.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Rare loggerhead sea turtles reached a conservation milestone on the coast of Georgia in the midst of a strong nesting season on southern Atlantic beaches.

Georgia wildlife officials announced this week that more than 2,890 loggerhead nests have been counted this summer along the state’s 100-mile coast. Not only is that a new record for Georgia — smashing last year’s record count by more than 550 nests — but it also surpasses the state’s long-term recovery goal for the species.

A target set years ago called for Georgia to reach 2,800 nests by the year 2028 — 50 years after the federal government listed loggerhead sea turtles as a threatened species. With nesting expected to continue for several weeks, Georgia could easily top 3,000 nests this year, said Mark Dodd, the biologist who oversees the sea turtle recovery program for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

“We never thought we would get here this quickly,” Dodd said Friday, though he cautioned it’s still too early to declare loggerheads a recovered species.

Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are all reporting robust nest numbers since the season for loggerheads began May 1. The giant turtles, which can grow to weigh up to 300 pounds, typically lay eggs through the end of August.

As of Friday, South Carolina was close to its record of 5,193 loggerhead nests set in 2013, said Michelle Pate, coordinator of the state’s sea turtle program. North Carolina was a little more than 200 nests shy of its record number — 1,304, also from 2013, according to Matthew Godfrey, sea turtle coordinator for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.