The 2025–2026 Turtle Season

Another sea turtle nesting season has come to an end on Fregate, bringing with it months of early morning patrols, beach monitoring, and many memorable encounters along our shores.

Compared to the previous exceptional season, this year was noticeably quieter. During the 2025–2026 season, our Conservation team recorded 513 turtle tracks and 229 nests, including 217 Hawksbill turtle nests and 12 Green turtle nests. A total of 22 turtles were tagged, helping us continue building our long-term understanding of turtle movements and nesting behaviour around Fregate.

While the numbers were lower than last season’s remarkable 522 recorded nests, this is not unexpected. Thanks to Turtle Action Group Seychelles, we know this has been a quieter nesting season throughout the country. Sea turtles naturally experience fluctuations between seasons, and female turtles also require time to recover between nesting years, often taking two or more years before returning to nest again.

Throughout the season, our Conservation team also relocated 51 nests to help improve their chances of survival. Most of the nests laid at Grand Anse were carefully moved to our new hatchery to protect them from crab predation, while others were relocated from Anse Victorin due to seasonal sand erosion affecting the beach.

For our team, turtle patrols are about much more than numbers alone. Each season gives us another opportunity to monitor, observe and learn more about these incredible animals while continuing to improve our field approaches and minimise disturbance during monitoring work.

From freshly laid tracks in the sand to hatchlings making their way to the sea, every season brings new lessons and reminds us why long-term conservation work matters. Our Conservation team now looks ahead to the next nesting season and the continued protection of one of Fregate’s most iconic visitors.

Photos and copy by Aleksandra Kolmaer