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Published: August 22nd 2008
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Leather Back Turtle
The 900 pound leatherback turtle just came up the beach and we watched her dig out a nest for her eggs. So far we have really loved our time here in Trinidad; the people are friendly, the culture rich in history, and the wildlife is amazing. Last night we went on a tour to see the giant leatherback turtles nest on the beach, one of the many great wildlife tours available here in Trinidad. And it was such an awesome night!
We got picked up by a van at 4:30 pm and drove across the island to the Matura Bay Turtle Sanctuary. Matura Bay is one of the many beaches in Trinidad where the giant leatherback turtles come to lay eggs during the nesting season, which is June lst thru August lst. The beach here is a protected area and many hotel developments have been stopped because the bright lights confuse the baby turtles and are detrimental to their survival. So as we approached the beach we had to turn off the van lights and stop at the ranger station to pick up a guide.
The guide was very knowledgeable about leatherback turtles and explained to us how the tour would be conducted thru the night. So we headed down to the beach with him and stumbled upon a 900
A National Geographic Moment
Jay and I feel so lucky to witness this amazing sight- truly a once in a lifetime experience! pound leatherback turtle who had just came up to nest about 50 yards away. It is very important that we don't disturb the turtles during the nesting process, otherwise she will abandon the nest and return to the ocean. So we could only use red headlamps and had to be very quiet during the whole process. It was amazing to watch her dig out the 4 foot deep chamber, pulling out a handful of sand with alternating flippers- such hard work. But once she starts laying eggs she goes into a trance and this is the only time we can take pictures and touch her. Afterwards we have stand back while she covers up the nest with sand and circles the surrounding area a few times to camouflage the nest. The whole process takes about 2 hours, but the night went by so quickly. It was a once in a lifetime experience and we felt so fortunate to be able to witness this wonder of nature. It truly was a National Geographic Moment!
Our guide taught us so much about the giant leatherback turtles, so here are a few factoids for you. The giant leatherback turtle gets it's name
Eggs
She will lay over 100 eggs during this nesting season. Notice how the soft shell doesn't break as they drop into the nest. not only because of their size, an adult leatherback is 4-8 feet long and can weigh 700 up to 2,000 pounds- giant indeed! But also because their shells don't have bony plates like other turtles, but are actually leathery and quite flexible. In fact the shell can bruise easily and disintegrates after the turtle dies. One advantage of having a flexible shell is that it enables the turtle to dive deep into the ocean. In fact, the giant leatherback turtle is the second deepest diver in the world, second only to sperm whales. These turtles can dive down thousands of feet because their shells can compress. Another anatomical feature that allows these turtles to be such deep divers is that they have 7 lung compartments and can push the oxygen into it's blood when needed- amazing!
Like salmon in the stream, the leatherback turtle will return to the same beach 2-3 years after it hatches to lay their eggs. During the nesting season, the turtles will lay hundreds of eggs on 5-7 different consecutive nights. The leatherback turtle makes her nest either close to the water, in the cold sand, or up the beach in the warmer sand- depending
Hard Work
We spent over 2 hours watching her dig the nest, lay the eggs, and then cover the nest back up with sand before she returned to the ocean- now that's hard work! on the ration of male to female turtles she wants. Yes, the temperature of the nest helps determine the sex of the baby leatherback turtles. The nests which are closer to the beach are colder and produce a higher percentage of male turtles while the nest in the warmer sands farther up the beach will produce more female turtles- fascinating! After the baby turtles hatch they follow the moonlight reflecting off the ocean and swim away. Unfortunately only one in a thousand of the baby leatherback turtles survive.
As we were heading back to the van we happened to stumble upon a nest of baby turtles that just hatched and were scurrying down to the beach. These little turtles were so cute! And we even got to hold one. I know that only a small percentage of baby leatherback turtles would survive- there are many predators waiting for them in the sea. So we wished this little guy good luck and set him back down on the sand. He followed his instincts and went right towards the water and got caught by the surf. And as we watched him swim away, we hoped that he would be one of
Jen with the Hatchling
Many of the nests hatched while we were at Matura and the baby turtles would scury down to the ocean. We even got to hold one of the babies- so cute! the lucky ones to return to this very beach in two years to lay eggs. By this point another giant leatherback turtle had come up the beach to nest about 100 yards away. But it was already 2:00 am and time to go home. So we all got back in the van, sleepy but excited from our adventure, for our trek back to Chaguaramas.
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ruggeryobu
non-member comment
Unfortunately...
Sorry to barge in like this..but such touristy "attractions" have led to the decrease of turtle landings around the world.... Enjoy the rest of your trip though!