ASSATEAGUE ISLAND, Md. (AP) - Around 100 baby loggerhead sea turtles recently hatched on Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland and successfully made their way out to sea.
The National Park Service said in a statement that although multiple sea turtle nesting attempts have taken place within the national seashore in past years, this is the first confirmed hatch. It's also rare for loggerheads, an endangered species, to nest north of Virginia.
The statement approximately 100 hatchlings made their way from a single nest site in a Maryland zone.
Bill Hulslander is chief of resource management for the National Seashore. He says the hatching underscores "the increasing importance of undeveloped beaches along Assateague Island to sea turtles and other federally threatened and endangered species."
