On Thursday morning, we got up early and headed to the beach to watch a Sea Turtle Hatchling Release. The National Park Rangers ask beach visitors to report any sea turtles observed laying eggs, and stand guard over the eggs until the rangers can arrive. Then they gather the eggs and move them to an incubator to hatch in protection. Once they hatch, they release them into the ocean, again under protection.
When we arrived, we saw a crowd of people gathered around. It was hard to see at times, and hard to get pictures. Here is Steve and some of the kids trying to see the turtles.
The park rangers had a net canopy held over the sea turtles to protect them from the sea gulls. The sea gulls can't eat the baby turtles, but they will snatch them away, and either injure them by trying to eat them or by dropping them onto the parking lot. They moved the net forward as the turtles progressed toward the ocean. There were also several people documenting the turtles' progress on film. Those of us in the crowd were asked to turn off our flashes, which might disorient the baby turtles.
I actually took this photo of the netting towards the end, when the turtles had thinned out. They were releasing 245 baby turtles that were 1 day old -- from 3 different clutches of eggs. At the beginning, most were grouped together like this.
I actually took this photo of the netting towards the end, when the turtles had thinned out. They were releasing 245 baby turtles that were 1 day old -- from 3 different clutches of eggs. At the beginning, most were grouped together like this.
One park ranger had the job of moving the slow pokes forward, 6 inches at a time, so they didn't fall too far behind the pack. She picked them up, one by one, to help them get closer to the ocean.
Other rangers walked along the edges, pointing confused turtles back toward the ocean, keeping the crowd from pressing in, reminding us to turn off our flashes, answering questions, and showing a couple baby turtles to the crowd. These turtles were Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles.
The turtles made their progress toward the ocean slowly. They often crawled forward 6-12 inches, then paused to rest before making another surge forward. It was slow but steady progress. This next picture shows a few confused turtles facing the wrong direction.
Two of them took the lead early on, and moved ahead of the rest of the turtles.
Finally, the very first Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Hatchling reached the ocean on the morning of July 23, 2009. The crowd cheered as the wave first touched him, and again as the next wave swept him out into the ocean.
The rangers said that the turtles would settle down amongst the sea weed and eat until they were larger. In a year, they'll be as large as a dinner plate, about 10-12 inches across.
This process got a little too boring for my 5 year old, who wandered off, but the rest of the children enjoyed watching the turtles and listening to the park rangers.
And finally, a picture of Steve and the children in front of the sunrise, to prove we were there. Now I'll confess that I didn't want to get the kids up for this. I wanted Steve to take a few of the older kids while I kept the younger ones in the trailer and let them sleep. But, I'm glad Steve persisted and we were all able to see the baby sea turtles.
Take joy,
April
This process got a little too boring for my 5 year old, who wandered off, but the rest of the children enjoyed watching the turtles and listening to the park rangers.
And finally, a picture of Steve and the children in front of the sunrise, to prove we were there. Now I'll confess that I didn't want to get the kids up for this. I wanted Steve to take a few of the older kids while I kept the younger ones in the trailer and let them sleep. But, I'm glad Steve persisted and we were all able to see the baby sea turtles.
Take joy,
April
