The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Marine Turtle Conservation Program is responsible for managing and protecting sea turtles in the state of South Carolina, USA. This program has several all encompassing components: management, monitoring, research, and education. More specifically this program provides technical expertise on anthropogenic activities that have the potential to impact sea turtles (i.e., nourishment, dredging), locates and protects sea turtle nests (~300 km of coastline), documents strandings, performs necropsies on fresh dead strandings, works with the SC Aquarium to provide rehabilitation for live strandings, monitors nearshore waters for leatherbacks, and provides as much education, outreach and exchange of scientific information as time allows.

The SCDNR began monitoring sea turtle nesting activities and strandings in the late 1970s. Information gained from this program contributes to ongoing sea turtle nest management and protection projects on all of the state's beaches.There are approximately 330 kilometers of ocean-facing sandy beaches in South Carolina that provide suitable nesting habitat for sea turtles. To date, loggerheads, green turtles, leatherbacks and rarely Kemp’s ridleys sea turtle nests have been recorded on South Carolina beaches. By far the most common nesting species is the loggerhead. In South Carolina, nesting surveys and nest protection measures are carried out by a variety of public agencies such as the SCDNR, USFWS, South Carolina Department of Parks and Recreation and Coastal Carolina University. Several private organizations and numerous volunteers are also actively involved with sea turtle protection work. Altogether, more than 1100 individuals participate in nest monitoring activities in South Carolina each year. Results from all South Carolina sea turtle nesting beach projects are submitted to the SCDNR and compiled for the State and made available to federal agencies. These data are crucial in monitoring populations, formulating protective regulations, making management decisions, and maximizing reproduction for recovery.

This graph shows annual loggerhead nest counts on index nesting beaches in South Carolina from 1982 – 2011. Survey effort at these index beaches did not vary among years. The natural trend includes high, medium and low years.  Both 2010 and 2011 were good years.  It remains to be seen as to whether or not the 2012 nesting season will follow this trend.  Nesting prior to 1982 was much denser in South Carolina with over 2000 nests solely on Cape Island in the early 1970’s. Currently, Cape Island has an average of 1,000 nests per year.