A trail in the sand: Loggerhead sea turtle nests early on Grand Strand beach
The trail in the sand gave it away.
The 2019 sea turtle nesting season got off to an early start Thursday morning when employees and guests of the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort on Lake Shore Drive witnessed a loggerhead turtle laying her eggs on the beach in front of the hotel.
According to a post on the Facebook page of the nonprofit North Myrtle Beach Sea Turtle Patrol, the nesting loggerhead came ashore to nest around sunrise. Many walking the beach saw her and many more watched from their balconies.
Hotel employees and volunteers with the Sea Turtle Patrol found 113 eggs in the nest and relocated them to a more secure spot, just north of Apache Pier.
The organization said it’s just the second day of the nesting season, which goes into October.
You can tell a sea turtle has ventured onto the sand to lay its eggs because it leaves a trail in the sand as it crawls to and from the ocean to nest.
This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 12:03 AM.
