Estan haciendo bien?
Last week I wrote about the awesomeness of experiencing baby turtles hatch, which if you haven't checked out you can do so here:
http://ramblinmannino.blogspot.com/2013/10/tortugas-pt1-wants-to-see-baby-turtles_19.html
Today I get to write about something equally as cool and inspiring - mother turtles nesting. I'll never forget that first time. It was the first night that I was staying at Castaway, which became my home for 6 weeks, when I returned home in the late afternoon from a surf session. We had a fun little group there and before long the bonfire was cooking and food and beer was being passed around. Not a bad first night. But it got better. A lot better. I could type it all out, but I'm just gonna let myself, from a previous video tell the story:
Ya, I was pretty pumped about the whole experience. And I invite you to check out this brand new video I put together which brings you front and center for the entire process!
WARNING: We got the GoPro into some tight spots during these shots, a bit of an infringement on the turtle's privacy, and a little gross at times.
Hopefuly she doesn't hold it against us ;)
It was seriously the coolest thing, witnessing that for the first time. We were on such a high for the rest of the night. And as you can see from the video, I got to see this a couple more times. And every time it was amazing - to be that up close and personal with this massive prehistoric creature. Especially while it was performing this monumental act. And let me tell you, it did NOT look easy. After crawling up out of it's natural habitat and onto the sand, the turtle would spend the first 15 minutes digging digging digging. Straining as she reached those back flippers waaaaaay down, only to flip up a small pinch of sand each time. It was a long and arduous process. I got tired just watching. Then she sat there for another 15 minutes pumping out approx ONE HUNDRED eggs. Oyyy. Once done, she used those big flippers to reach out side to side and push sand back into the hole, covering everything up. She then began rocking back and forth, thumping her huge body against the sand in a goofy little dance, I assume to pack it all down. Finally, exhausted, it was time to head back into the water. It was the most unnatural looking thing haha, using those big ole flippers to drag herself across the sand, pausing several times to rest while probably cursing all of us. Understandable. We did our best to help motivate...
You really felt for the poor thing, and as she finally disappeared into the water, everyone relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. It's like we were all in it together.
Interesting was the turtle's complete indifference toward us. Now granted we took care not to shine the lights in her eyes or anything but clearly it had to know. But it didn't care. It was there for one thing and one thing only - unload those eggs - come hell or high water. I mean picture that, carrying around 100 little golf ball sized eggs...no wonder we were the least of their concern!
Once the turtle had gone, the only thing left to do was collect all the eggs and relocate them to a safe spot so that locals would not poach them.
And then wait 45 days for this magic to happen:
:)
Hopefuly she doesn't hold it against us ;)
It was seriously the coolest thing, witnessing that for the first time. We were on such a high for the rest of the night. And as you can see from the video, I got to see this a couple more times. And every time it was amazing - to be that up close and personal with this massive prehistoric creature. Especially while it was performing this monumental act. And let me tell you, it did NOT look easy. After crawling up out of it's natural habitat and onto the sand, the turtle would spend the first 15 minutes digging digging digging. Straining as she reached those back flippers waaaaaay down, only to flip up a small pinch of sand each time. It was a long and arduous process. I got tired just watching. Then she sat there for another 15 minutes pumping out approx ONE HUNDRED eggs. Oyyy. Once done, she used those big flippers to reach out side to side and push sand back into the hole, covering everything up. She then began rocking back and forth, thumping her huge body against the sand in a goofy little dance, I assume to pack it all down. Finally, exhausted, it was time to head back into the water. It was the most unnatural looking thing haha, using those big ole flippers to drag herself across the sand, pausing several times to rest while probably cursing all of us. Understandable. We did our best to help motivate...
Once the turtle had gone, the only thing left to do was collect all the eggs and relocate them to a safe spot so that locals would not poach them.
And then wait 45 days for this magic to happen:
:)
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