Going on a Turtle Hunt

Every year during the summer turtles come onto the beach to lay eggs. This year we came during the summer and got to see this natural phenomenon. It was so cool. The turtles would come up, lay their eggs, rest for bit, and head back to sea. After 3 months the turtles would hatch and be escorted by kids down to the ocean.

The turtles come on beach starting around 9-11pm.  We play games as a family and wait for turtles to come on the beach.  Every hour we leave the condo and check to see if any turtles have come on the beach.  One night we were swimming in the ocean as the sun set and it got dark and a turtle came on the beach about 50 feet away from us.  It was really cool.  My dad made us get out of the water and watch from a distance.  Sadly a group of people came and scared the turtle off.  They were very disrespectful because they were messing with it and taking pictures with their camera and scared it away.

When you watch turtles you have to be very quiet and wait until they lay their eggs to approach them.

Nathan watching the turtle go back to the ocean. If people come to close to any turtle the turtle will quickly turn around and head back to the ocean.

The turtle got scared by some people on the beach so it ran away. It was very sad that because some people didn't respect the turtle's space it wasn't able to lay it's eggs.

Some of the turtles we watched still didn't lay eggs even though no one disturbed them.  If the turtle feels like the sand isn't right or if it isn't a suitable environment for her little turtles she will leave. This is the hole it dug before it got scared away.

That's Ken, Rose, and Darin taking a snooze on the beach chairs waiting for a turtle to come onto the beach. After a while Darin got too tired and went back to sleep at the condo. This turtle got it's chance and came looking for a good place to lay it's eggs. Luckily, after digging 4 holes it settled on the fifth hole that just happened to be right in front of the entrance to the beach. It was so cool.

These are the survivors of the night. Nathan, Rose, my mom, my aunt, and my cousin Abby were out to get there bounty, a picture with the turtles. Lola stayed up too.

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After resting for 30 minutes the turtle headed back to the ocean.

The turtle above laid 138 eggs.  My Aunt and Cousin named the turtle Angel.

This is Rose and Darin with their cousins and Aunt helping the lifeguard dig up the eggs and re-bury them in a protected area so other people don't dig them up and eat them. It's kind of weird that people eat them.

This blog was written by Darin T. for his communications merit badge.