JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. () — Georgia’s first loggerhead sea turtle nest of the season was confirmed on Jekyll Island Thursday.

According to the Department of Natural Resouces (DNR) daily nest monitoring on all Georgia beaches starts in mid-May. This year though, Will Hicks and Bailey Yarborough of the Jekyll Island Authority reported the first nest on the first day of May.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center announced the discovery on social media May 1.

“It’s like clockwork, we always get our first nest during the first week of May,” Georgia Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Mark Dodd said. “This is predicated to be a big year for nesting. That being said, our modeling suggests the loggerhead population will stabilize at current levels for about the next 15 to 20 years.”

Sea turtle eggs incubate for around 60 days before hatching, according to the center. After discovery and while incubating, nests are covered with a screen to protect the eggs from predators.

During nesting season, flashlights are prohibited on or near beaches from May to October, unless using turtle-safe lighting, the center said. You can read more about turtle safe lighting here.

All marine turtles in Georgia are protected by state and federal law.

DNR provided some ways to help conserve marine turtles:

• Minimize beachfront lighting during sea turtle nesting season. Turn off, shield or redirect lights.
• When walking the beach at night, don’t use flashlights and flash photography. The light can deter turtles from coming ashore to nest or cause them to abort nesting.
• If you encounter a sea turtle on the beach, remain quiet, still and at a distance.
• Leave turtle tracks undisturbed. Researchers use them to identify the species and mark nests for protection.
• Properly dispose of your garbage. Turtles may mistake plastic bags, Styrofoam and trash floating in the water as food. Ingesting trash can kill them by clogging their intestines.
• Protect beach vegetation: It stabilizes sand and the natural coastline.
• When boating, stay alert and avoid turtles. 

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center is the only sea turtle education and rehiblitation facility in Georgia.

You can symbolically adopt a sea turtle or nest for online by clicking here. All proceeds from sea turtles’ symbolic adoption program help to offset costs like food and medicine

You can also support DNR through fundraisers include sales of the monarch butterfly license plates and sales and renewals of bald eagle plate and older designs. The tags cost $25 more than a standard plate to buy or renew and up to $20 of that fee goes to help wildlife, DNR said.