Here is our guide measuring the overall length of the turtles shell to record her growth
About a week ago we heard from an information center that it was turtle season. We`d come specifically for a laundry place and a pool. All over the i-site were posters of turtles. We got really interested and started reading them. November to January are when turtles come up onto a beach called Mon Repos (french for My Resting Place) to lay their eggs. January to Febuary is when the eggs hatch. Five dollars for a kid and ten for an adult to come and see the turtles lay their eggs! Totally worth it! Dad immediatly started to get into detail and soon we had already booked our place in Group 2. Before we had learned this we had almost wasted are money on some Australian Rum Tour but decided it was way too overpriced. I`m glad we didn`t waste our money on that. The rest of the day . . .
was spent at the pool and laundromat. When night came we headed over to Mon Repos and to the Turtle Center to cash in our tickets.
At first there was a big line but it thinned a little as Group 1 was sorted and we were one of the last in Group 2. Seeing a turtle isn`t guaranteed since they are still wild animals but even if a turtle didn`t come you got to wander aroud a museum about turtles. Group 1 set off to see a turtle within thirty minutes. Our group set off after about an hour and a half. They put rangers on patrol, looking for turtles emerging from the sea until midnight. When a second turtle was sighted we headed to the beach. Our group had to stay huddled together, practically touching each other, so other emerging turtles wouldn`t be scared off. They have terrible vision and would mistake us as a tree or rock. When we reached our destination the guide identified the turtle to be a Loggerhead Turtle by looking at its tracks. Loggerheads tracks alternate but the other two species of turtle who nest at the beach have a track that doesn`t. We quietly made our way up the beach but then the guide told us that we didn`t have to be quiet since turtles hear at a different frequency than us. We were still quiet because nobody had the urge to talk. We formed a half circle around her so she couldn`t see us. The guide explained that the turtle could easily be disturbed and still turn back to the ocean and lay her eggs there. Then the hatchlings would die. The turtle was almost done digging a hole to lay her eggs in.
At first there was a big line but it thinned a little as Group 1 was sorted and we were one of the last in Group 2. Seeing a turtle isn`t guaranteed since they are still wild animals but even if a turtle didn`t come you got to wander aroud a museum about turtles. Group 1 set off to see a turtle within thirty minutes. Our group set off after about an hour and a half. They put rangers on patrol, looking for turtles emerging from the sea until midnight. When a second turtle was sighted we headed to the beach. Our group had to stay huddled together, practically touching each other, so other emerging turtles wouldn`t be scared off. They have terrible vision and would mistake us as a tree or rock. When we reached our destination the guide identified the turtle to be a Loggerhead Turtle by looking at its tracks. Loggerheads tracks alternate but the other two species of turtle who nest at the beach have a track that doesn`t. We quietly made our way up the beach but then the guide told us that we didn`t have to be quiet since turtles hear at a different frequency than us. We were still quiet because nobody had the urge to talk. We formed a half circle around her so she couldn`t see us. The guide explained that the turtle could easily be disturbed and still turn back to the ocean and lay her eggs there. Then the hatchlings would die. The turtle was almost done digging a hole to lay her eggs in.
The Group watched as her flippers acted like hands and a shovel combined. After a few minutes she settled down and was ready to lay her eggs. The eggs popped out of her and it was amazing as well as gross because they were dripping with slim. After twelve eggs the guide said it was all right to form a full circle around her. The guide and her assitant did a lot of scientific stuff like measuring her shell and tagging her.
It was amazing! I was standing the presence of a wild turtle who was giving birth! But it got better.
It was amazing! I was standing the presence of a wild turtle who was giving birth! But it got better.
The ranger is carefully removing the eggs from the nest and placing them on the side in rows of ten
When the turtle climbed back into the ocean after covering up her hole the guide annouced that the nest was in range of the tide and would have to be re-located to a different place. While she dug up the eggs her assistant dug another hole in the sand dunes. The turtle had laid a hundred and twenty-four eggs (the average is 127) and we all got to carry about four eggs each to the other nest. The assistant then placed them carefully in the new nest. I helped save an endangered animal! Yay! After that it was time to go back and I was a little relieved as well as disappointed because even though I had an amazing experience I was ready for bed. It was about eleven at night and on this trip I`d go to bed at nine and wake up at six thirty.
Allie
Allie
Here I am carefully carrying two eggs to the re-located nest on higher ground
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