MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Myrtle Beach welcomed its first sea turtle nest of 2020 on Wednesday, according to a Facebook post by the city.
City officials say a beach maintenance staff member discovered the nest before dawn on Wednesday near the Dunes Club, and he notified Myrtle Beach State Park.
A Myrtle Beach State Park ranger said she relocated 110 eggs from the nest to the state park, where there’s less beach traffic. If you look closely at the photo on the left, and you can see the turtle’s crawl tracks in the sand.
Relocating sea turtle nests from one site to another is a common conservation practice used for reducing threats to eggs and hatchlings of marine turtles.
Turtles usually come ashore at night to lay their eggs. The baby turtles need to crawl back to the ocean on their own to set their internal compass. Sea turtles return to the same shore where they were born to lay eggs.
Officials remind people that it is illegal under federal and state law to disturb sea turtles, with fines of up to $10,000 for anyone who does. Do not disturb, touch, shine a light on or otherwise interfere with sea turtles, their nests or the hatchlings.
