The turtle was swaying her back legs burying where her eggs dropped. We had missed the event! Still it was nice to see the turtle up close, they are bigger then I imagined; on average they are 1M long, and about 95cm in diameter over the shell. The guide said they can weigh between 100 and 200Kg.
No flash photography was allowed as this disturbs the mothers during egg laying and can put turtles off coming to the island at all, so it was very difficult to take a picture on my point and shoot camera. I managed to get a picture of the eggs in the bucket that the attendant picked up afterwards:
Bucket of turtle eggs
After the egg laying the attendants take the eggs to be buried in a seperate area, giving them a serial code, noting the date and the amount of eggs layed, this turtle laid only 40 eggs which is about the smallest amount a turtle will lay (highest being about 120). They are buried away in a protected area from the sea as the water can damage them; there is also monitor lizards on the island who have a taste for turtle eggs, so this protects the eggs from them too.
Finally we got to see some infant turtles who had just hatched being released into the sea. It takes about 60days for the eggs to hatch.
The hatchlings were wiggling about in the bucket eager to get out into the big ocean. The rangers said they don’t really know what happens between now and the age of 15-20years when the turtles reach sexual maturity and start to return to the island. Maybe I’ll return in 20 years time and see one of these again, however a big majority of them don’t make it to adulthood (hence why there is so many of them laid to start with). (Video of this at to side).
Baby turtles ready to be released
Everyone went back to the cafeteria to wait for another mother turtle to lay her eggs. Another 10 minutes passed and we got the call again, it was turtle time.
This time we was in time, the turtle was laying her eggs into the small pit she had dug. It was certainly a moment to remember, but again, I couldn’t take a good picture, but have a video:
This mother actually laid 99 eggs!
Nearby there was a noise of sand being ruffled, I turned and saw another turtle digging her hole to lay her eggs in. This certainly is a busy and special place.
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Wicked sick videos Rob. Turtle Power!