From our news services
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore has reported the first sea turtle nest of the 2026 season. Discovered on May 12 on Ocracoke Island, the nest was identified as belonging to a leatherback sea turtle.
Leatherback nests are rare on North Carolina beaches because they lie at the northern edge of the leatherback’s nesting range.
During the past decade, from 2015 through 2024, only four leatherback nests were documented within the Seashore: one on Hatteras Island in 2022, one on Ocracoke Island in 2023, and two in 2024 — the first time in more than 20 years that two leatherback nests were recorded in a single season.
In 2025, a total of 218 sea turtle nests were recorded at Cape Hatteras National Seashore: 193 loggerhead nests, 21 green turtle nests, three Kemp’s ridley nests, and one unidentified nest.
Sea turtles begin laying eggs on Outer Banks beaches in May. The incubation period for the eggs is generally 50 to 60 days.
To read more:
Another good year for nesting sea turtles including leatherback
The five sea turtles of the Outer Banks
