Courtesy of: The Morning News
During the daily end-of-the-day control one of the volunteers of Turtugaruba noticed a dimple in one of the protected nests in front of La Quinta. Incubation for a Leatherback nest is 60 – 70 days and this nest, the first one of 2013, counted already 69 days. At 5 PM the hole was small (about 20 cm) and shallow, but the sand in it was moving every now and then. After a while a black point appears the tiny head of a hatchling, a sure sign that the nest is going to hatch. The hatchlings will scurry to the sea as a group, all together. A drop in temperature normally activates the hatchlings to break free from the nest. The number of onlookers is increasing, and while waiting a lot of their questions is answered by the volunteers of Turtugaruba:
“Where is the mother turtle?” The female came ashore March, 13th and left her eggs to incubate in the warm sand. She covered the nest carefully and camouflaged the nesting spot, returned to the sea and will not look after her offspring.
“How do you know where the nests are?” During the nesting season (March – July) volunteers of Turtugaruba walk the beach every morning at 5.30 AM and monitoring also takes place at night.
Barriers are placed around a nest immediately after the female turtle has returned to the sea or when the nest is discovered.
By now the sun has set and it’s getting dark. That means that the onlookers cannot take pictures anymore. Sea turtles are disoriented by artificial light and will not find the sea, so absolutely no lights and “NO FLASH” is the policy!
It takes till about 7 PM before there is significant movement: the sand in the dimple turns black now and this black spot is increasing…getting wider…. the entire group wells up. All tiny turtles (44 are counted) scurry to the sea…
To report turtle activity: 24/7 Turtle Hotline (+297) 592 93 93
Info: turtugaruba@hotmail.com or www.facebook.com/Turtugaruba
