Dune Nests Dune nests are those dug by the turtle in sand deposited by the wind as sand dunes.
Dunes generally form parallel to the backbeach or a dune fields shoreward from ebb deltas at inlets.
When turtles crawl from the sea and approach the backbeach they may crawl onto the face of the first dunes, or occasionally even cross behind the first dunes. Because turtles are slope sensitive, they are easily redirected by dune slopes. Dune nests are therefore highly variable in their position and in the positioning of the egg chamber. The fine grained sand of the dunes is often only lightly banded with laminae of heavy mineral grains, making sedimentary structures very subtle and the egg chamber discontinuity difficult to see. The loamy sand of the dunes and their topography generally makes dune nests very successful.