Tuesday, July 06, 2010

At A Turtle's Pace

The race appears to be on for yet another year here on Isla. The race to get those eggs laid.

Turtles starting coming ashore this week to dig their nests and lay their eggs.

We can stand by the roadside and watch them but are not allowed onto the beach or to disturb them in anyway during the process. I am very glad that the island is so forward thinking in the handling of the endangeared sea turtle.

Since all of this egg laying takes place after dark, it is almost impossible to get a good picture of the activity. The best I can do is to show you the aftermath on the beach across from my house the morning after.

This was a nest of eggs. Workers from our turtle farm lie in the sand and take out the eggs as fast as mama can put them in. They are then taken to the safety of the turtle farm and buried. When they hatch later this year, there will be a big party and the local school children will release the babies back into the sea. Nice.



Turtle tracks as they plow along the sand, either looking for a place to dig a nest or returning to sea, their jobs completed for another year.



4 comments:

jeanie said...

Thank you so much for this info! I've known about the Turtle Farm for many years, also the release by the children.

I didn't know, however, that people were lying in wait to save the eggs.

lisa said...

That is pretty neat to know!

Anonymous said...

Great to hear the island is so concerned about that ...
intriguing photos, too.

And you're right; she probably WOULD pay your ransom..:)

My thoughts and always with your bro...

O Robert

Arizona Kelly said...

So awesome that we have enough sand across the street for turtles to lay eggs again! Yea!

Bob and I were lucky enough to watch a turtle lay eggs over there one year, and helped the Turtle Farm guys harvest the eggs. They feel like smooshy golf balls. It was amazing to say the least.