Turtle Eggs
We had an awesome night on Sunday. We went to Mon Repos, a turtle rookery just along the coast from the marina. We had a talk from the park ranger, then waited. At just after 7am the rangers had spotted a turtle on the beach, we waited a short while until she had dug her nest and then we were shown down to the beach with the researchers to witness her lay her eggs. We were just a few feet from her and watched as she laid 106 eggs. Her eyes look like she is crying but it's just her regulating her eyes while out of the water. She was one of only 700 loggerhead turtles reproducing in Australia and one of the first to arrive at Mon Repos this season. After she had finished laying eggs she buried them and turned towards the sea, oblivious to us watching her she made her way back to the ocean to return in 15 days. After she had swum off the researchers dug up the eggs to count them- they can move them within 2 hours of being laid and they even allowed us to touch them - they were like squidgey ping pong balls. Only 1 in 1000 baby turtles make it to adult. She was 96 cm long and weighed 100 kgs. What a special experience!
posted by revision2 @ 5:37 am
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