Seashore has leatherback sea turtles hatch for first time in almost 20 years

OCRACOKE ISLAND, N.C. (WITN/Gray News) – Rare leatherback sea turtles have hatched on Ocracoke Island for the first time in almost two decades, according to officials with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The leatherback is the largest of all living turtles and is on the endangered species list.

Officials said the last time the sea turtle species hatched anywhere along the National Seashore was in 2007.

According to experts, this is only the fourth known group of leatherback hatchlings from a Cape Hatteras National Seashore nest since 2000.

The National Seashore first posted about the presence of the nest on June 22 when a leatherback mother turtle laid 93 eggs in her Ocracoke Island nest.

Officials said the incubation period for leatherback turtles is 70 days, and that so far 19 hatchlings have emerged from the nest and started their journey towards the ocean.

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