baby turtles!
The long awaited moment. These guys hatched last May 1, 2007. Well actually, we were getting worried that they all died so we decided to uncover the nest a little to check on them. Lo and behold! There were 5 baby hawksbill sea turtles beneath the sand, just waiting for evening to come before crawling out of the nest and heading to the ocean. We decided to let them crawl out and head for the ocean for imprinting before gently picking them up and transferring them to a tub of seawater. We did the photo-op with the Spanish Ambassador "releasing" them in the afternoon - he really didn't (it was just for publicity purposes) - before actually letting them go later in the evening.
Right out of the nest
Heading for the ocean
Solo photo - they're so tiny!
Swimming in the tub. The voices in the background are the guests and various staff.
This reminded me why I took this job in the first place :)
P.S. Only 5 developed out of the 93 eggs in the nest. My boss and I figure it's because the site we transferred them to was too cold :( The eggs at the top developed nicely, while the ones at the bottom didn't develop properly (no flippers...) or at all. Never again are we putting eggs in Lagen.
Right out of the nest
Heading for the ocean
Solo photo - they're so tiny!
Click to viewSwimming in the tub. The voices in the background are the guests and various staff.
This reminded me why I took this job in the first place :)
P.S. Only 5 developed out of the 93 eggs in the nest. My boss and I figure it's because the site we transferred them to was too cold :( The eggs at the top developed nicely, while the ones at the bottom didn't develop properly (no flippers...) or at all. Never again are we putting eggs in Lagen.