Thank you for your interest in the Atlantic Beach Sea Turtle Project. Each beach project works under permissions and guidelines from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. People tend to volunteer with the beach project that they live closest to and need to be in town most of May-September to volunteer. Each North Carolina beach that is not state or federally managed is volunteer managed.
ABSTP offers volunteer training in the spring for each upcoming season.
Nesting season: Our volunteers patrol the beach on foot each morning close to sunrise (6-8am) from May 1st to August 31st looking for sea turtle tracks and corresponding nests. Volunteers typically walk between 1-4 miles once a week. The beach is divided up into walking zones that volunteers sign up for a number of zones and days that they can walk.
Hatching season: Volunteers take shifts sitting with the nests throughout the night to ensure the hatchling turtles reach the water safely. Atlantic Beach has one of the highest amounts of light pollution in NC so the hatching and emerging season is extremely difficult to manage.
Please note that volunteer training only happens in the spring, and we cannot train new volunteers during nesting season. If you would like to support us before training takes place, please consider these ways you can help.
Volunteer Inquiry Form
If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out our Volunteer Inquiry Form.