MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – It’s officially nesting season for sea turtles in South Carolina, but experts say they’re not expecting as many of the endangered species’ nests in Horry County compared to past years.

Sea turtles typically avoid crowded, loud places when deciding where to lay their eggs, and with the growing number of people visiting the Grand Strand beaches, it makes the area a less than ideal place for sea turtles to nest.

“Think about if you wanted to lay some eggs. You wouldn’t want everybody looking at you and shining lights on you,” says Park Ranger Ann Wilson with the Myrtle Beach State Park.

In addition, sea turtles are not capable of laying eggs every year; this nesting year is considered a slow season, so the amount of nests are even lower.

“It’s not a cause for alarm, but we still need to do the right thing,” says Wilson. 

Despite the rarity of a sea turtle sighting in the area, a crowd in Surfside Beach spotted one Monday night, however, after pointing lights at her, and even attempting to get a selfie with the turtle scared her back off into the ocean. According to officials, the turtle was able to eventually nest further down the beach, but not without a bit of trouble from the crowd first.

“I think curiosity and excitement gets the best of people,” says Chief Kenneth Hofmann of Surfside Beach Police, “but I don’t think they intend to disturb the nesting process.”

Wilson agrees the incident that occurred in Surfside Monday night isn’t the norm. 

“I think a bunch of people are respectful, and I do think word is getting out of what’s proper behavior,” says Wilson.

Since a sea turtle sighting in Horry County is pretty rare, Wilson says it’s even more of a reason to educate people about them.

“The vast majority of people, especially this year because we’re not in a large sea turtle nesting season, are probably never going to see a sea turtle, but every time people go to the beach, they can make a difference,” says Wilson.

Wilson says keeping lights off of the beach at night, staying a good distance away from the turtles, filling in holes in the sand so turtles don’t get stuck, removing chairs and trash from the beach, and keeping dogs on leashes are just some of the things everyone can do, especially during nesting season.

“And that can help out the turtles,” says Wilson, “so that we can continue moving forward and having better numbers each and every year.”