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When the female has started laying, it is possible to get very close to her to see the egg-laying process as she goes into a sort of trance. The eggs are ping-pong ball sized, rubbery and surrounded by mucus to protect them. Here you can just about see an egg at the entrance of her ovipositor, just about to fall into the nest. She can lay up to around 140 eggs in one go - on average five times a year.
In Jamursba Medi beach of West Papua Province-Indonesia that is known as the largest leather back turtle nesting population in the world
One of the numerous threats to the successful reproduction cycle of turtles is the destruction of their nests. Stray dogs, along with those from nearby villages, often roam the beaches in packs digging up and eating the recently laid eggs.
More photos from Escobilla can be see here.
Now it's time to cover the nest with sand and off she goes! Bye-bye, kids, have a great life! She doesn't have to take care of them anymore...
After seeing the mama turtle go away in the dark of the ocean we noticed a blinking flashlight further on the beach, about 30 m from us. It was a signal from fellow turtle-watchers that there's something interesting going on. So we went to see. There were a whole bunch of baby turtles coming out from a nest in the sand. That was amazing - they all were rushing to get out of that small hole in the sand at the same time, and immediately headed to the water. The sad statistics say that only 2-3 of them will survive but we did not want to think about it. At least all "our" babies made it to the water.
We got very lucky. At 10 p.m. we started our trip to the beach to see the leatherback turtles nesting. Our guide told us to wait on the beach while he went to see if he can find any turtles nesting, and after waiting just around 15 minutes we suddenly saw a turtle coming out of the water right where we sat waiting for our guide! We had to stay quietly in the dark for about an hour while the turtle climb up the pretty steep beach pulling herself up with her front flippers, and then dug a deep hole in the sand with her back flippers. The guides warned us that we only can turn the lights on and take photos after the eggs start to come out, and all the light must come only from the back. Here is that very moment.
The guide is showing us the eggs which keep coming out of the turtle. They count them and write the number down in their book. This turtle has come here before, she has a marker on her back flipper.
At Cape Van Diemen, the northern-most point of Melville Island, Nortnern Territory. The left track charts the turtle's progress up the sand where it has attempted the first nest site, then across to the second nest site before returning to the sea and creating the right track.
Photo by Kristine K. Stevens, a curious traveler, author and beekeeper, who is writing a memoir about her adventures in Iceland.
Previously, Kristine sold her house, quit her job and traveled around the world. Learn more at "If Your Dream Doesn't Scare You, It Isn't Big Enough: A Solo Journey Around the World."
On May 1, Regional Program Administrator Scott Eastman, GTM Research Reserve Resource Management Coordinator Candace Killian and volunteers relocated a leatherback sea turtle nest that was discovered in the beach renourishment area. Volunteers Joan and Richard Becker, and Michelle Simonds spent over an hour and a half digging before Scott and Candace arrived and dug for another hour and a half before the eggs were found! Photo: Candace Killian.
7 Photos in this Series
"My Backyard" Greenacres, FL
This Turtle is nonnative to Florida, so it is the result of a released pet.