A summer jaunt to Qatar - part 5

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Oman - Day 1

Breakfast at out hotel (Hotel Muttrah) was average apart from my first encounter with 'foul mudammas' which are a kind of curried beans. Quite tasty if done right. Oh, and it's pronounced fool. We had met up late the night before with Lyn and Brian, two friends of Mum's, and they'd hired a car, so after

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[muggledepuggle]

Turtles!!! Awesome : ) did you get pics?

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No, unfortunately! We weren't allowed to take pics as it was very dark and the flash would have disoriented the turtles.

If I'd had an infrared camera it would have been fine.

Interesting factoid: One of the ways the baby turtles orient themselves toward the beach is because the water is fractionally lighter at night than the sandy beach. I guess because it's reflective whereas the sand will absorb light. So they just go towards the concentration of greatest light they can sense. Which means that if they hatch on beaches with a lot of light pollution, they head towards the city instead, which is kinda sad, as they all die. Luckily, however, the big breeding area at the end of the Arabian coast is well away from any major settlement, and I got the impression that the Omani government intends to keep it that way. :)

[muggledepuggle]

hmmm, that was an interesting fact. an interesting fact that makes me feel bad about watching those nature docs where they floodlight the baby turtles.

I think there is a coast in Thailand where turtles get hatched/born too. I'll have to check out my timing next time I go there. sooo cutes.