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| Leatherback Turtles in Trinidad
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Leatherback turtle hatching season is one of the reasons we wanted to come to Trinidad. The season runs from March until September, with hundreds of Leatherback turtles coming to Trinidad to lay their eggs. We went mid-way through so we could see both the mothers laying eggs and hopefully to see some babies hatching. We spent two nights at Grand Riviere, which is in Trinidad's remote northeast corner. The drive took us about three hours and was a trip in itself with beautiful coastline, rustic villages, and lush vegitation. We arrived at our little eco-resort in the mid-afternoon and settled into our rooms. Mt. Plaisir Resort is a quaint place to stay. Calling it a resort is a bit overstated -- it has evolved over time and combines rustic make-do with a bit of an artistic flair. Our rooms were above the hotel dining room and had a private patio overlooking the beach. The rooms are interesting with artwork made from driftwood, the door to the bathroom just a piece of fabric, and beds with a big mosquito net. The rooms were actually rather charming. We had big chairs on our veranda to sit and watch the beach.
We had to wait until dark to see the turtles so we just relaxed on the veranda and wandered the beach. That evening we went out when the turtles came up, but with no moonlight, it was hard to see. We watched them for awhile then decided to wait until dawn to go out to see them. We set our alarms for 5am and went out to look for turtles. What a sight! We went to an area where there were four turtles laying their eggs. Since it was daylight, we were able to take pictures without disturbing the mother turtles. We watched one mother turtle from the time she first started to prepare for laying the eggs. The turtles select an area on the beach, wedge themselves in with their front legs, then use their hind legs to dig a three-foot deep hole in the sand in which they lay their eggs.
The turtles typically lay between 80-100 eggs. The last layer of eggs are small and infertile and provide a protective barrier to protect the fertile egss when the mother turtle covers the nest with sand. After about an hour, the mother if finished and covers the nest. She pushes sand into the nest, and tamps it down with her her hind legs. Then she starts disguising the nest. She uses her body and fliggers to churn up the surface to confuse predators as to the actual location. The one we watched made several paths down to the beach then back up and walking in circles to help disguise her nest. Then it is back to the beach to return to the ocean. There were actually several turtles that morning. We saw over thirty trails back into the water!
One of the really interesting things we saw was a mother turtle that had been trying to dig a nest too close to the waterline. She had been digging for over an hour, but the surf kept caving in her nest. Another turtle came up next to her, used her flipper to hit the one trying to dig. We figure it was a signal to quit trying. They turned together and went back to the ocean. Nature is an amazing thing to watch! Baby turtles! We were lucky to see some baby turtles hatch. We were two months into the turtle hatching season and some of the eggs laid earlier in the season had started to hatch.
We only saw two babies -- they are usually in a nest of 100 or more. We saw a couple of lone babies. They were born during the day, which is dangerous. Normally they are born at night when the cover of dark gives them some protection from the vultures that are around during the daytime. The local people who monitor the beach moved them to a tub of salt water until night when they released them in the ocean to give them a better chance at survival. They let Cheryl hold one of them on their way to safety. |
