Sea Turtles- Birth Announcement 500+Hatchlings on Kaua’i!
Green Sea Turtle Hatchlings/PMRF
In the Hawaiian Islands, Green Sea Turtles have made a great comeback in the past few decades. On our Snorkel charters, it still amazes me to see the sheer number of animals we are blessed to swim with everyday. As a Marine Biologist, I am then overwhelmed that I have lived long enough to see female sea turtles come back to the major Hawaiian Islands to nest. Here on Kaua’i we can boast more turtle nests than anywhere in the state!
This fall season it has been recorded that 19 Kaua’i beaches (360 degrees around the island) have had successful sea turtle nests. Although the true tally of live turtle hatchlings has not been published, the 2011 estimate is 500-1,000!
This increase is very encouraging, yet only a few hatchlings per nest will survive to adulthood.
Photo: Courtesy of Smithsonian Institute
Turtle tracks-Polihale
Female often come ashore to nest, several times in a season, but will wait 2 or 3 years to nest again. Green Sea Turtles nest at night and dig a “body pit” with rear flippers She will deposit approximately 100 eggs into this flask shaped egg cavity. The female will cover the nest with sand and head back to the sea. That is the end of her parental involvement.
The incubation period is 2 months.
Turtles use a specialized egg-tooth called a caruncle to break free of their shell and then use teamwork to climb to the surface. The journey to the ocean is when the turtle hatchlings become affected by environmental hazards. Vehicle tracks and marine debris are some of the physical threats caused by humans, but by far the lights on a beach will disorient and misdirect the young turtles and prevent them from reaching the sea. Predators, such as sea birds, octopus and fish, will await the turtle luau. These surviving hatchlings truly learn to swim quickly and frantically into open ocean using amazing instincts and magnetic orientation!
Captain Tara is a Marine Biologist and the owner & Captain of Kauai Seariders - a Kauai snorkel tour and Whale Watching adventure company. Captain Tara founded the non-profit organization, Kauai Reef Conservation, which is dedicated to the preservation and protection of the coral reef eco-system through research, outreach and education.
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