Today we went to the Bahia Honda State Park to do a beach
cleanup. On our way to the area that we
were cleaning we saw a few things that looked like they were turtles’ nests. We stopped to check on out and it looked like
a turtle had started to dig the area for their eggs but then left. Sea turtles’ nest in the months of March to October.
When starting to nest the first thing the mother does is
look for a beach to nest at. Most sea
turtles will nest at the same beaches their whole life. The sea turtle will
scope out the beach from off shore to make sure there aren’t many predators and
humans around if there is, they will swim away and try again another day or go
to another beach. Once the coast is
clear she starts her way onto the shore, which can be a very difficult thing or
these sea turtles because they have flippers not feet. After she picks a spot on the beach it is
time to start digging. First thing the
sea turtle does is make a body pit for herself, which is basically just a hole
so that she will be semi hidden from any predators. After this she digs a hole, using her hind
flippers, that is around 18 inches deep so that she can lay her eggs in
there. Once her eggs are laid, she fills
in the hole she has dug with her hind flippers and then uses her front flippers
to scatter the sand, so predators don’t know where she her eggs are.
The process a sea turtle has to go through is a very long
process, but it is only the beginning of the journey. Once these sea turtle eggs hatch, they still
have to make their way to the ocean, which is something that can be very
difficult for these hatchlings. There
are many predators of these sea turtle hatchlings like raccoons and seagulls
and they also have to make sure they make their way to the ocean without falling
into holes or even going towards the city life that is behind them. The journey of a sea turtle is a very long
one!!
If you want to learn more about sea turtle nesting... https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-general-behavior/
If you want to visit Bahia Honda State Park and see these turtle tracks... https://bahiahondapark.com/
It was really neat to learn about how the turtles will scatter the sand around the nest so that it's camouflaged from predators. However it was upsetting to see all of the trash surrounding the nests.
ReplyDeleteTurtles to me are so interesting, turtles gender is determined by the temperature of the sand that makes their nest. The fact that turtles are able to often times come back to the exact same beach within a close proximity to lay eggs that they were born on after all those years at sea is amazing. Baby turtles use natural light to find their way to the ocean during the night when they hatch. In an effort to be as less of a disruption to these amazing animals many coastal towns have banned any lights in a close proximity to turtle nesting ground that aren't a red color.
ReplyDelete