Leatherbacks are the largest turtles on
Earth, growing up to two meters long and exceeding 900 kilograms. Leatherbacks
can dive to depths of 1,280 meters — deeper than any other turtle—and can stay
down for up to 85 minutes.
Female hatchlings that make it to sea
will roam the oceans until they reach sexual maturity, when they return to the
same nesting areas to produce their own offspring. Males spend the rest of
their lives at sea.
After mating at sea, females come ashore
during the breeding season to nest. The nighttime ritual involves excavating a
hole in the sand, depositing around 80 eggs, filling the nest, leaving a large,
disturbed area of sand that makes detection by predators difficult, and finally
returning to the sea.
We were very fortunate to encounter one
of these magnificent creatures, early morning in broad daylight, on the beach
close to Sodwana, South Africa, performing her natural ritual of coming ashore
and laying her eggs.
No comments:
Post a Comment