Written on 01/11/2009Disclaimer: This being an animal story and me having worked at Shedd for so long, if any of you are reading this and any of these turtle facts are incorrect, please just let us know. All of the facts are strictly believing what came out of the mouth of one Costa Rican man, very late at night, and therefore we cannot guarantee their accuracy, but we thought they made a good story and all sounded really convincing. Also, no pictures allowed, so we stole one from the internets.
Last night we went way over budget, but we saw the coolest thing. There is a beach just north of Tamarindo called Playa Grande. It´s apparently a great surfing beach but is also a nesting spot for leatherback turtles. We got picked up by the Las Baulas National Park (FUN fact: Las Baulas means leatherback turle in espanol) and headed to the beach were we got a little song and dance about what we were going to do and see. Then we got in a little boat and they took us across the ocean to Playa Grande where the turtle do their thing. We had been told during the song and dance that they had only seen 25 turtles so far this season compared to 82 last year. The group that had gone out the night before had waited until 3:30 am and saw nothing and were back for round two so things started out a little bit bleak. They also told us the possibility of seeing turtles could happen anywhere from 1 km down the beach to 5 km away. We had walked about 10 minutes when our guide’s radio started going off. It sounded a lot like I did at Shedd on gala day when the random table of people showed up without a reservation, only he was screaming “Tortugas, Tortugas, Tortugas.” They had spotted a turtle and we needed to get there fast. It was officially go time. We started hauling across the beach, literally, had I know were heading to the Tamarindo version of the Shamrock Shuffle I would had worn my running shoes. We jogged about another 3 km and finally got there. By the time we showed up the mama turtle had gotten up the beach and had dug one hole. She was (by our guides standards) a small turtle but was at least 5 feet wide and 7 feet long. She had been busy digging in an area where the sand was too dry so we had to wait and see if she was going to try again or give up. I should have asked, but failed, how exactly you can just decide not to birth things when they are ready to be birthed. I had assumed, that like with humans, those little munchkin turtles were just demanding to see the sand and surf.
We waited around a little bit more and heard lots of stories about the turtles and how many of the eggs die before they hatch. They can dig up the eggs and incubate them artificially to help them survive but they HAVE to take them back to Playa Grande to hatch, because if they never see that sand, they will never know how to get back home. This would be bad because the Playa Grande turtles come back to Playa Grande to lay their eggs every time, they just know, it is their spidy sense. The males are incredibly lazy and unsupportive and they never come near the beach and never touch land again after they are born, they just wait 4,000 km away to mate again. Another thing he told us while we waited was that the temperature of the sand that the eggs are laid in determines the sex of the turtle. If it’s a lower temperature it will be a boy and if it’s a higher temperature it will be a girl.
All the while, mama turtle was going to town digging the heck out of the sand and making herself a lovely hole. She dug a good one the second time and started laying her eggs. There can be anywhere from 60 - 90 eggs in a batch (I know, I just made them sound like cookies). The best way to describe the eggs is they were the size and color of a pool cue ball, but they looked squishy. Yes, squishy. We took turns watching, 15 people at a time as there can be only 30 people in a group. Groups go out from Tamarindo and Playa Grande each night and a maximum of 60 people can be on the beach each night. They held an infrared light up as that doesn’t disturb them as much while giving birth and we all just crowed around her backside. It was very, very cool to watch and I hadn’t seen anything like it ever, and though I have never given birth, I just kept thinking that if it were me, the last thing in the world I would want was 30 foreigners and an infrared light shining down on me. Moms of the blog, feel free to share your wisdom here.
After she was done she started covering it back up and then had to make the long walk back into the ocean. Her little ones will be born about 90 days from now and if we are lucky, we might meet up with mama turtle again in the Galapagos after she goes and yells at her baby daddy.
For more information on the tortugas, check out: www.leatherback.orgLast night we went way over budget, but we saw the coolest thing. There is a beach just north of Tamarindo called Playa Grande. It´s apparently a great surfing beach but is also a nesting spot for leatherback turtles. We got picked up by the Las Baulas National Park (FUN fact: Las Baulas means leatherback turle in espanol) and headed to the beach were we got a little song and dance about what we were going to do and see. Then we got in a little boat and they took us across the ocean to Playa Grande where the turtle do their thing. We had been told during the song and dance that they had only seen 25 turtles so far this season compared to 82 last year. The group that had gone out the night before had waited until 3:30 am and saw nothing and were back for round two so things started out a little bit bleak. They also told us the possibility of seeing turtles could happen anywhere from 1 km down the beach to 5 km away. We had walked about 10 minutes when our guide’s radio started going off. It sounded a lot like I did at Shedd on gala day when the random table of people showed up without a reservation, only he was screaming “Tortugas, Tortugas, Tortugas.” They had spotted a turtle and we needed to get there fast. It was officially go time. We started hauling across the beach, literally, had I know were heading to the Tamarindo version of the Shamrock Shuffle I would had worn my running shoes. We jogged about another 3 km and finally got there. By the time we showed up the mama turtle had gotten up the beach and had dug one hole. She was (by our guides standards) a small turtle but was at least 5 feet wide and 7 feet long. She had been busy digging in an area where the sand was too dry so we had to wait and see if she was going to try again or give up. I should have asked, but failed, how exactly you can just decide not to birth things when they are ready to be birthed. I had assumed, that like with humans, those little munchkin turtles were just demanding to see the sand and surf.
We waited around a little bit more and heard lots of stories about the turtles and how many of the eggs die before they hatch. They can dig up the eggs and incubate them artificially to help them survive but they HAVE to take them back to Playa Grande to hatch, because if they never see that sand, they will never know how to get back home. This would be bad because the Playa Grande turtles come back to Playa Grande to lay their eggs every time, they just know, it is their spidy sense. The males are incredibly lazy and unsupportive and they never come near the beach and never touch land again after they are born, they just wait 4,000 km away to mate again. Another thing he told us while we waited was that the temperature of the sand that the eggs are laid in determines the sex of the turtle. If it’s a lower temperature it will be a boy and if it’s a higher temperature it will be a girl.
All the while, mama turtle was going to town digging the heck out of the sand and making herself a lovely hole. She dug a good one the second time and started laying her eggs. There can be anywhere from 60 - 90 eggs in a batch (I know, I just made them sound like cookies). The best way to describe the eggs is they were the size and color of a pool cue ball, but they looked squishy. Yes, squishy. We took turns watching, 15 people at a time as there can be only 30 people in a group. Groups go out from Tamarindo and Playa Grande each night and a maximum of 60 people can be on the beach each night. They held an infrared light up as that doesn’t disturb them as much while giving birth and we all just crowed around her backside. It was very, very cool to watch and I hadn’t seen anything like it ever, and though I have never given birth, I just kept thinking that if it were me, the last thing in the world I would want was 30 foreigners and an infrared light shining down on me. Moms of the blog, feel free to share your wisdom here.
After she was done she started covering it back up and then had to make the long walk back into the ocean. Her little ones will be born about 90 days from now and if we are lucky, we might meet up with mama turtle again in the Galapagos after she goes and yells at her baby daddy.
2 comments:
All Moms know that birthing is a communal experience - whether you like it or not.! But by the time you are ready to have the little bundle of joy - you don't care that every resident, nurse, UPS man, and the entire housekeeping staff has wandered in and asked how many centimeters you are dilated! "Sure, come on in, want a cup of coffee while I am writhing in pain and screaming out obscenities I didn't even know existed until this behemoth child decided this was a good day to be born?" There is no such thing as modesty on that wonderful day.
Good thing humans don't have the option of choosing the gender based on the temp. of the sand! That's wild and weird!
I will consult with Nickel on all of your turtle facts, but they sound pretty good to me! Miss you guys!
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