Imagine this.

You’re walking down the beach and you spot a sea turtle or her tracks.

You never saw anything like this at Sandy Beach or elsewhere on Lake Murray.

Her tracks lead to a sand dune above the tide line.

You’re tempted to find her nest and what lies inside it.

Take the advice of state officials: Don’t.

It’s against state law.

Although a week late — reportedly because of comparatively a cooler winter — sea turtle nesting season has begun in South Carolina.

May 1 marked what was anticipated to be the beginning of the season, but the state Department of Natural Resources reported a loggerhead turtle actually kicked off the season on May 8 by nesting on Beaufort County’s Daufuskie Island.

The location of the premiere nest was uplifting.

“This marks the first time in several years that South Carolina’s inaugural nest has been laid in the southern part of the state, and for a beach that averages fewer than 100 nests each year, it’s a happy distinction,” reports a press release from the state DNR.

While the first nest was produced earlier, the official turtle nesting season began May 14, according to Program Coordinator of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Marine Turtle Conservation Program Michelle Pate. Although later than last year, she claimed this is still a “typical” time for the onset of the season.

However, the differing timeline probably points to ecosystem fluctuation, specifically the colder temperature and subsequent water temperatures this winter, according to the DNR. This likely resulted in the change of the turtles’ habits, though Pate emphasized the normality of the differing winter temperature patterns. She claimed the delayed start shouldn’t decrease the total amount of nests for the year.

Pate reassured that sea turtle reproductive biology is such that it is cyclical in nature.

Not every female turtle nests every year so nest counts go up and down over time. In recent years we have seen an increase in the number of loggerhead nests laid on our beaches.” This year, there will likely be more nests than there were last year, though this figure could be impacted by the turtles’ winter diet, Pate explained.