 |
yertle the
turtle
--Grace; Feb 9, 2005
We're currently on Heron Island, spending an
inordinate amount of time looking for turtles. For some unknown
reason that defies all laws of probability, we seem be having
much worse luck than most of our fellow island visitors. But have
no fear; we have a sure-fire (yea, right) method for counteracting
this ongoing streak of bad turtle-spotting luck: sheer volume.
We look for turtles in the morning (starting around 4am, a bit
before it's possible to actually see anything), we look for turtles
at night (dinner until about 11pm, way past when it's possible
to see anything), and we change our dinner time everyday in an
effort to be on the beach at different times, etc. (basically,
we're obsessive about finding turtles and devote as many hours
as possible throughout the day).
|
a female Green
Turtle (over 4 feet long) struggling
back to the ocean after laying her eggs |
So while it would be easy to become frustrated
by constantly hearing our compatriots say things like, "I
saw 5 momma turtles this morning," or "if you go to
that end of the island at 7:30, you can *always* see baby hatchlings,"
we will not be robbed of our enthusiasm! Around the island we
go (again!) - after all, it only takes 20 minutes (it's a small
island).
We’re fortunate to be here at the rare
time of year when the last of the females are coming up to lay
eggs and the first of the babies are hatching and making their
mad dash for the ocean and the reef beyond.
Most of the turtles that nest on Heron Island
are Green Turtles (though Loggerhead and Hawksbill Turtles come
here, too). The adult females come to the place of their own birth
every 2 to 4 years to lay eggs. They struggle up the beach to
find a good place for a nest, laboriously dig the nest, lay between
80 and 200 eggs, and finally, completely exhausted, make their
way back to the ocean. They repeat this process from 1-7 times
every 12-14 days. The whole process usually takes 2-8 hours, and
it's the only time that the turtle comes out of the water during
her life.
|
a hatchling
(less than 2 inches long) races for the ocean |
Approximately 50-70 days later, the hatchlings
are born. Using the moon as a reference, they flee to the ocean
(so don’t shine a flashlight on them and don’t build
highways near the nests or the hatchlings will get very confused
and never make it to the ocean). The odds are against them since
there are so many ways for them to meet their demise (birds eating
either the eggs or the hatchlings, sharks and rays waiting for
them as they enter the water for the first time, all sorts of
other nasty predators in the ocean, etc.). Less than 1 in 4,000
survive to be an adult, with even smaller numbers managing to
return to breed. But fortunately, after years of being carelessly
hunted (or killed as consequence of fishing or other human activities),
the turtles in Australia are making a small comeback. In the last
20 years, the Green Turtle population has risen to an estimated
200,000 breeding females, but they are still considered endangered.
This is, in part, thanks to the folks who care for places like
Heron Island.
If you ever get the chance, two things not
to miss in life are the magic of seeing a mother turtle struggle
through the ritual of laying eggs, and the excitement of watching
a group of hatchlings race for their life into the ocean. Ah...
the circle of life. (To see as much of this
as we could capture in low-light conditions without disturbing
the turtles, check out the turtle
video.)
|
|
