National park officials discover 118 turtle eggs on Phang Nga beach

[snoop1130]

 

It’s turtle laying season and at least turtle has made their way to a Phang Nga Beach over the past week. National Park officials have found 118 leatherback turtle eggs on a beach in the Thai Mueang district of Phang Nga.

 

The Bangkok Post reports that officials from Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Muang National Park say the discovery of the eggs is the first of the current nesting season. National Park chief Prarop Plaengngan says officials found the eggs while patrolling the beach for signs of a leatherback turtle.

 

The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of all living turtles, with its lack of a bony shell differentiating it from other sea turtles. Instead, its shell is made up of skin and oily flesh. Leatherback turtles can reach lengths of up to 1.8 metres and weigh up to 500 kilograms!

 

By Peter Roche

Caption: PHOTO: MGR Online

 

Full story: Phuket GO 2023-12-12

 

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[hotchilli]

So they stumbled across the open nest?

[PETERTHEEATER]

46 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

So they stumbled across the open nest?

No. They must have seen the mother turtle's tracks in the sand and used them to guide them to the nest where they dug it out. The should now remove them to a Government hatchery until the baby turtles are large enough to release into the sea. Not that many will survive but that's life.

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

No. They must have seen the mother turtle's tracks in the sand and used them to guide them to the nest where they dug it out. The should now remove them to a Government hatchery until the baby turtles are large enough to release into the sea. Not that many will survive but that's life.

Why not just leave the nest alone

[ThaiFelix]

4 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Why not just leave the nest alone

Too late they have all been eaten in a big omelette.

[impulse]

15 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Why not just leave the nest alone

I participate in an annual turtle patrol on Galveston Island in Texas. We dig up any eggs we find to keep coyotes and other predators from eating them.  Plus, the hatch and survival rate is much higher than natural, where they get eaten on their way to the waterline.

 

I'd add that, as a non-expert, my role is limited to locating nests on the beach. We call in the experts to do the actual relocation.

Edited December 13, 2023 by impulse

[PETERTHEEATER]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Why not just leave the nest alone

Others, particularly local fishermen, may come along and raid the nest stealing the eggs for food. Once she has laid the mother does not return to the nest although she will come back to the beach another season to lay again always avove high mean tide.

[hotchilli]

40 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Others, particularly local fishermen, may come along and raid the nest stealing the eggs for food. Once she has laid the mother does not return to the nest although she will come back to the beach another season to lay again always avove high mean tide.

Okay I understand.. nature needs a helping hand to make sure the young hatch and get out to sea.

[LikeItHot]

On 12/13/2023 at 9:07 AM, hotchilli said:

Why not just leave the nest alone

During COVID I found several nest sites on the south side of Samui.  They are not hard to spot with some knowledge.  Two of them had motorbike tracks running through them.  Better to take the eggs to a safe incubation. 

[LikeItHot]

On 12/13/2023 at 9:12 AM, ThaiFelix said:

Too late they have all been eaten in a big omelette.

Yum Khai Tao more likely 

[LikeItHot]

On 12/13/2023 at 7:12 AM, hotchilli said:

So they stumbled across the open nest?

The nests look like out of place depressions in the sand several feet in diameter.  A crater, if you will. The bigger the breed the bigger the diameter. They are often near the highest parts of the beach and near foliage.  If recently laid, tracks will also be evident. 

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 12/12/2023 at 5:14 PM, snoop1130 said:

National Park officials have found 118 leatherback turtle eggs on a beach in the Thai Mueang district of Phang Nga.

Don't tell me, Somchai made an omelette. 😮