Loggerhead sea turtles laid a record 4,292 nests on Georgia beaches this year, a hard-won rebound from a low of 358 nests in 2004.
Loggerhead moms do the bulk of the work here, of course. But they get oversight and protection from a team of hundreds of volunteers and professionals who fan out on beaches from Cumberland to Tybee nearly every day from May through August. The effort is even more intense on Wassaw Island where rotating groups of ecotourists stay up all night to document the turtles that nest at this national wildlife refuge.
