- Thread starter DR Mpe
- Start date
Sea Turtle in Cabarete
Thanks for the wonderful pictures. I heard the good news earlier this evening from my friend at Pitu's and I am waiting for more pics from her.
It is fortunate that it was still light outside and no flash was needed to photograph the little turtles.
Wish I had been there!!
It is fortunate that it was still light outside and no flash was needed to photograph the little turtles.
Wish I had been there!!
One on left to one on right 'I wasn't expecting to have my first bath in front of quite so many people'.
GREAT pics DR Mpe. Thank you!
Pics send shivers along my spine. How wonderful it is to see the success of this turtle.
I wonder why the National Aquarium did take part in this, as was suggested by some of the posters. IE. , rais a few of them to beyond the first weeks so they have a better chance of survival?? Maybe it can't be done..
We probably know less about these turtles than we do about Whales...so sad we are screwing up our world..
HB
I wonder why the National Aquarium did take part in this, as was suggested by some of the posters. IE. , rais a few of them to beyond the first weeks so they have a better chance of survival?? Maybe it can't be done..
We probably know less about these turtles than we do about Whales...so sad we are screwing up our world..
HB
I agree with you 100 %. I heard that 1 out of 1000 (thousand) reach reproductive age... (Source: "turtle girl" Erin)
It definately can be done, and is done on a regular basis HB. Of course it requires expertise and resources as well as an understanding by the authorities (who may tend to take a simplistic "hands off" attitude) that where a seriously endangered species like the leatherback is concerned, human intervention will be absolutely necessary to prevent extinction. If I recall, hand raising the hatchlings til they are about a foot long will raise the odds of reaching reproductive age almost 100 fold. These little tykes are simply too easy a target for too many predators.
Having said all that, it is still very cool that so many hatched and at least have a chance, however slim.
Having said all that, it is still very cool that so many hatched and at least have a chance, however slim.
On the other hand ...
maybe the mothers got tired of Florida (where they even have lots of protected beach areas up and down the coast), kinda like some of us, and decided to head down to DR ... :cheeky:
maybe the mothers got tired of Florida (where they even have lots of protected beach areas up and down the coast), kinda like some of us, and decided to head down to DR ... :cheeky:
That's brilliant! Thank you for the updates & photos all through. Good luck to the little chaps!
Here are some more pics, courtecy of my friends Gaby and Thomas at Pitu/Fanatic. Thomas camped out at the site many nights until the wee hours of the morning to see them hatch and then it happened in broad daylight - well early evening.
On Saturday afternoon the nest was dug up. There were a lot of eggs that had nothing in them. Probably unfertilized. There were some that had unfortunately dead unfinished embrios in them, but the good news is that 6 more babies were found and hopefully made it to the ocean later that day after the sand had cooled down. They were kept in a box as a precaution.
So, from what I was told, there were 36 initially, 6 more that same night and 6 that were rescued.
Was this good or what are the odds when people are not involved?
[/IMG]
On Saturday afternoon the nest was dug up. There were a lot of eggs that had nothing in them. Probably unfertilized. There were some that had unfortunately dead unfinished embrios in them, but the good news is that 6 more babies were found and hopefully made it to the ocean later that day after the sand had cooled down. They were kept in a box as a precaution.
So, from what I was told, there were 36 initially, 6 more that same night and 6 that were rescued.
Was this good or what are the odds when people are not involved?
A friend who works at Onno's told me that 11 more turtles hatched Sunday night. Surprises me a little, but I have no reason to doubt her.
Also, some videos of the earlier hatching I found on Youtube
YouTube - Turtle hatch1
YouTube - turtles
YouTube - turtle hatch
Also, some videos of the earlier hatching I found on Youtube
YouTube - Turtle hatch1
YouTube - turtles
YouTube - turtle hatch