BUXTON, N.C. — Beaches along Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks, N.C., had one of their busiest sea turtle summers on record, with 409 nests counted in 2026. Only 2019, at 473, beat it since tracking started in 1987.
This year nearly doubled the 218 nests logged in 2025 and also edged past the 380 counted in 2023. Loggerheads dug 390 of them. Greens added 15, and leatherbacks, the largest turtles in the sea, left four, the most ever for that species here. By island, the count was 294 on Hatteras, 94 on Ocracoke and 21 on Bodie.
Preliminary figures through Nov. 7 count 30,988 hatchlings that climbed out to the surface. Park crews and volunteers moved 158 nests to safer ground and left 251 where the mothers dug them, while 26 nests were lost. About 69 percent of eggs hatched.
According to seashore staff, a mother turtle can spend one to three hours ashore. She scoops out a cavity using her rear flippers, buries the clutch, then finds her way to the surf by reading the light. Weeks later the young make their own dash across the sand, usually under moonlight.
Seashore staff want visitors to clear chairs and tents from the sand each night, level any holes they dig, carry out litter and old line, and keep flashlights and porch lights dim near the dunes. Beachgoers who come across turtle tracks, a nest, a stranded animal or tiny hatchlings are asked to phone the turtle hotline, 252-216-6892.
Every species that nests on these beaches is protected under federal endangered species law. The 2026 numbers stay preliminary until the season data are final, and staff expect only small changes as the last nests are inventoried.
