So let me try to answer some of your questions.
Good morning everyone. Greetings from hot and sunny Playa Grande - for those of you asking about the weather, it has reached the high 90's here every afternoon. Are you jealous? You have been posting some great questions, so I will try to answer as many of them as I can in this post. Yes, there is a nesting season for the turtles - it lasts from September until late February. They end the season with a turtle festival that lasts 2 days. Emily, you asked what we do with the eggs? If the turtle lays her eggs above the high tide line, they are not disturbed. If she lays them below the high tide line, they actually catch the eggs in a container as she is laying them and then, either bring them back to the hatchery, or dig another nest on the beach above the high tide line. The turtle goes into a kind of trance when she is laying the eggs and is unaware of our presence. The trance is caused by a change in hormonal levels. The only thing we have to be sure of is never to step in front of her into her line of vision. Over the course of our fisrt night I saw 5 turtles - 4 leatherbacks and 1 black turtle, which is quite a bit smaller than a leatherback. At one point we had 2 different turtles at different nesting stages on our section of the beach. Not all nesting attmepts are successful. I will put up another post later explaining the nesting process. Kailen, you asked me how fast did the hacthlings go when we had our turtle race. We released them about 20 m from the shore line in dry sand. It took them about 10 minutes to make it to the water. So that's about 2m every minute - 2m is about twice your height. That's pretty fast for a little creature that is only big enough to fit in the palm of your hand, especially considering that it is only a few hours old. So that's it for now - it has been a long night, many more stories to tell, but first I need a little siesta. I promise to post some photos later today.
posted by Fiona O'Doherty @ 9:37 AM
11 Comments:
Hi Miss O’Doherty,
I have a question. Do you have to take any precautions when watching the turtles to ensure that you do not interfere with their egg laying or with the hatching of the turtle eggs? Also, the handout said that turtles were scared away by artificial light, what do you do in order to see the turtles at night?
-Eve W
Hi,
What happens at the Turtle Festival?
Why can't you cross the turtle's line of vision while she is laying eggs?
- Adrien B.
hiya i was just wondering when can we see u live ? how r u doing? are you enjoing it????????
ba bye xxxxxxxxxx
Hi Eve, Thanks for the question. While the turtle is laying her eggs, we lie on the sand behind her, gently move her hind flipper to the side so we can see the eggs and count them so there is little interference. Bright lights will stop them from coming up to the beach. We all use red filters on our flashlights which doesn't disturb them - only bright whitel light. They only come out at night because the sunlight is also too much for them.
Adrien, I'm not sure exactly about the festival. I know it's a 2 day party that all the locals and scientists attend. This year the biologist are planning to put on a little show/skit that will hopefully explain why the turtle prefer 1 one the 3 local beaches. They thought they could adapt the goldilocks and the 3 bears story - 1 is too hot, one is too cold, the other is just right! They have asked for our help since we're a bunch of teachers! As regards crossing her line of vision, part of it is out of respect for the turtle and to keep things as natural as possible. The other is that if she detects something, she will abort the whole process and go back to sea.
Hey Ms. O'Doherty,
Hope you are having fun! I have a question about if you have seen any sea turtle families and if they stay together to survive?
By the way Doreen and Mai say "hi" and we hope you enjoy the rest of your trip!
- Liz W.
Hi Ms. O'D I hope your having a great time! I have a question. On average how manyy turtles come to the beach each season and has that number changed in the past years due to endangerment? See you soon!
Ada
Hi Jen,
This expedition is amazing. I don't know if you have already answered this question, but why are the leatherbacks endangered? And are these turtles similar to the leatherbacks found in the Indian Subcontinent?
All the best,
Shibani
Ms. O'D,
If a turtle's go into a trance-like state, does that make her eggs more vulnerable or can she still defend them? If she aborts and goes back to sea, what happens to the eggs? Do they just die?
- Qiu Meng F.
Hi Liz - Thanks for the comment. No, we don't see turtle families - they are very solitary creatures. The males role is only to fretilize the eggs and he never comes to land. The female only comes to the beach to lay her eggs, leaves, and the hatchlings fend for themselves.
Ada- this year they had 75 different turtles laying eggs here on Playa Grande, 27 of which were new turtles - possibly hatchlings that were released at the beginning of this project in 1989 that survived to maturity which is exciting.
Hi Qui Meng - good to here from you. The turtle's hormonal levels change as she starts the nesting process. even though she is a trancelike state , she is still very aware of her surroundings, which is why we keep out of her line of vision and use red filters on our flashlights. If her egg chamber keeps collapsing because the sand is too dry, she will abort the process before she even begins to lay eggs. If she starts laying, she will always complete the process by filling up the egg chamber and camouflaging the nest before returning to sea.
Hi Ms. O'D! I hope your having an amazing time in Costa Rica. I was just wondering how many female turtles you've have seen (if any) laying their eggs. I know that the mother turtles leave right after they lay their eggs and the baby turtles have to go off on their own.
I also had a question about the CCL, since the grid squares are 10 cm each, does that mean I should multiply my CCL measurement by 10? I'm kind of confused and if you could give me a hint, that would be great.
Thanks Ms. O'D. Miss you, and I'll see you soon!
Jackie
Hi Jackie - thanks for the questions. We got spolied our first few nights - on my first night alone, I saw 3 females lay her eggs, and on our second night we had the "morning turtle" which meant she was laying her eggs after the sun came up! Every night we had at least 2 turtles come ashores and lay - I wasn't always on the section of the beach where the turtle was, but that was ok. As for your question about the CCL, I think you're on to something if you think you should multiply the final result by 10!
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