Caretta Caretta Babies Come Out!

While watching a huge Green Turtle laying eggs, we discovered two baby Loggerheads in a near nest! Today, we are going back to Alagadi to join the public excavation of the nest! Somewhere in the sand, those babies are waiting to be discovered and released to the sea….

When some sea turtles are just coming to lay their eggs, the first nests begin to open and baby sea turtles make their way to the sea. Following our surprising discovery of two Loggerhead babies on the beach last night, today we are informed that there will be a public excavation at 17:00. You are also invited!
During their regular nightwatches, the students in the Turtle Project, check the nests which are older than 40 days. This indicates that the nest could hatch any time. Therefore, these nests get different treatment to protect any early babies from being eaten or destroyed. They place a pyramid cage to protect any predators stealing into the nest, and a ring cage around it so that if any babies come out of the nest, they stay within this ring until the students find them. We had approached this kind of nest last night as we were about to leave the beach after having watched a 87-cm Green Turtle lay her eggs; and we had discovered two baby Loggerhead sea turtles, which are commonly known as Caretta Caretta.

Excavating the Nest
As hatchlings usually emerge from their nest at night when temperatures are cooler, upon such discovery, the following day the Turtle Project places notices at crowded places in the city to invite people to join public excavation. The people already on the beach willingly approach to witness the birth of the hatchlings. So, it is always very crowded. To prevent any chaos, and to secure their smooth working without any harm to the babies, first the students tape off the area around the nest and a small area near the sea, where they will let the babies perform their legendary walk to the sea.
Excavating hatched sea turtle nests, or ones that have failed to hatch, provides crucial information for understanding turtle hatching successes and failures. Students try to understand the reasons for unsuccessful or high mortality-rate turtle nests. At the end of the season with all the data the volunteers and workers write the final report on the sea turtle nesting season.

Babies Show Up
The students slowly dig the sand using their hands and fingers. This process should be done carefully not to cause any damage to the babies. We start finding them close to the surface. At first, one shows himself. Then, a second, and a third one! They are all covered in sand! You can see a dark spot at the place of their eyes! The students measure them, and weigh them to keep a record. Then they all go into a bucket. Soon, Graham (Graham Mumby, the project coordinator) finds a pip, just coming out of its shell. One of the students takes it around to make everyone see it. It is so hard to believe these little creatures grow so big and heavy. They are Loggerhead babies, which means they will grow nearly to 110 cm. They look so fragile and tiny! They are lucky because they are not left alone to their fate. Many dangers await them on the pathway to their adulthood from the very first moment of their lives.
Once they get out of the nest, the hatchlings orient themselves to the brightest horizon and then dash toward the sea. If they don't make it to the sea quickly, many hatchlings will die of dehydration in the sun or be caught by predators like birds and crabs. Once in the water, there are still many obstacles for hatchlings. Sharks, big fish and circling birds all eat baby turtles, and they die after accidentally eating tar balls and plastic garbage. The obstacles are so numerous for baby turtles that only about one in 1,000 survives to adulthood.

Power of Nature
During the excavation, the Turtle Project team discovers 72 eggs; 16 of them alive. Sixteen Caretta Caretta babies are now ready to go into the sea… The students take them in their hands and leave them at some distance on the beach to let us see how they crawl towards the water. Everybody watches them amazed! Years later, if any of them could survive, she will come back to lay her eggs here, on this beach. At the very place her life started, she will give life to other turtles… If preserved effectively, Alagadi will continue to raise a myriad of turtles in her womb.

*published in Caretta Magazine, Aug 2008
** This article is a prequel to "The Night of Crossed Destinies"