Outer Banks Forever’s Adopt A Sea Turtle Nest Program for 2026 is Open!
One of the most awe-inspiring reasons we all love Cape Hatteras National Seashore is that its pristine beaches are a perfect home for our favorite sea turtle friends. Each year, hundreds of sea turtles make their way onto our beaches to lay their eggs. During the summer of 2025, our parks monitored close to 300 sea turtle nests, including rare Kemp’s Ridley and Leatherback sea turtle nests, and we hope to see similar numbers in 2026.

Through our Adopt A Sea Turtle Nest program, you can *symbolically adopt a sea turtle nest that is being monitored by park rangers at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and receive information about your specific nest when it hatches later in the summer or fall! There are a limited number of nests available to adopt each year, and they are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

*No individual or group that participates in this program can claim ownership of a sea turtle nest, eggs, or hatchlings. Nature is also unpredictable. If your adopted nest is lost to a weather event or damaged by some other means, we will assign you a new nest that may or may not be shared with another individual or group.

Here’s How Our Adopt A Sea Turtle Nest Program Works: 

Donate! Give a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more to reserve a sea turtle nest. Your support helps fund critical projects that protect and enhance the Seashore and the vital habitat sea turtles depend on. You will receive an email confirmation when you make your donation. Please keep that email receipt for your records.

Honorary/memorial adoptions: If you would like to adopt a nest in honor of or in memory of a loved one, simply check the box that says “Dedicate this gift in honor of or in memory of a loved one” at the top of the Adopt a Sea Turtle Nest donation form and fill out the information. 

Digital certificates: You can save paper and go green by choosing our digital certificate option. At the bottom of the Adopt a Sea Turtle Nest donation form, under “additional details”, check the box that says “please save paper and send certificate digitally”. Important: If the digital certificate is for your honoree, please be sure to include their name and email address on the donation form so we can personalize the certificate and send it to them directly.

Get your nest! As *nests become available for adoption, you will be assigned a nest and will receive an adoption certificate by mail or email (if you choose our digital option) with initial information about your nest. If you chose to adopt a nest in honor of a loved one, you and your honoree will receive an adoption certificate and updates about your adopted nest as information becomes available throughout the nesting season. Your honoree will receive notification about your honorary gift and their certificate when the nest is assigned, not when you make the donation. Please keep that in mind for time-sensitive occasions. *Nests are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Wait patiently for your nest to hatch! When your nest hatches later in the summer or fall (average incubation time for our nests is 61 days), you will receive a personalized update in the mail with information National Park Service rangers collect about your nest, including the number of hatchlings that made their way out to sea! 

You can read our frequently asked questions for even more information about our Adopt A Sea Turtle Nest program! If you have additional questions, please reach out to Nicole Erickson, our Development & Adoption Programs Manager, at: nicoleerickson@obxforever.org.