Loggerhead turtle lays eggs on crowded beach in 'unusual' incident

July 6 (UPI) -- A turtle protection charity in South Carolina shared details of a "highly unusual" incident where a loggerhead sea turtle crawled onto a crowded beach in broad daylight to lay her eggs.

The South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts, or SCUTE, posted photos to Facebook showing the loggerhead laying her eggs on a North Litchfield beach while a crowd of onlookers watch from a safe distance.

"A big thank you to everyone there for keeping their distance and allowing the nesting to take place," the post said.

SCUTE member Bill Raley said turtles are easily spooked by the presence of humans and normally wouldn't lay their eggs in the middle of the day.

"It's highly unusual," Raley told WPDE-TV. "I've been here 17 years and I've never seen one come in at this time of day before."

Raley said SCUTE members later relocated the eggs to a safer location higher up in the dunes.