Where the gaint turtles lay their eggs.
Trip Start
Sep 21, 2006
1
43
101
Trip End
Ongoing
Ras al-Jinz,
Oman
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The green turtles come to a 50 km (30 miles) long beach stretch to lay their eggs. The beach is now a protected area but they kept one km open to the public so we can have a chance to witness this beautiful spectacle. The turtles only come to the beach at night. So we had to wait till midnight before the park keeper came to get us and took us to the beach where the giant turtles were already getting busy. What a unique scenery!
They're truly majestic
A giant green turtle on the beach.
. They grow up to one and a half metres (about 5 feet) and can weigh over 200kg (440 lbs). Seeing how big and resilient they look, it's hard to imagine all the danger they faced to be here that night to take part in the miracle of reproduction. The little tiny babies that will hatch in two months will have to face the preying eyes of foxes, birds and even crabs before they make it to the sea where they will face the threat of fishermen's nets and oceanic predators. Only one in a thousand will survive and return in 25 years to lay their own eggs.Interesting fact: the temperature of the eggs during incubation determines the gender of the baby turtles: lower temperatures produce males, while higher temperatures produce females.
We stayed up all night and it was a little tiring at the end but all this time we couldn't help but think that we were possibly witnessing one of the most spectacular show mother nature has to offer.
Andre.
