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Leatherback
turtles travel up to 10,000 miles per year as they
traverse the
world's oceans seeking food, mates and their egg laying beach - the
very same beach that they were born on several years before. Yes,
nature really is that amazing! Their
shell is soft as leather and is quite unique in that it does not have
plates as you might expect to see on other turtle species and even
tortoises.
One
of the main nesting beaches on Grenada is Levera Beach - which is just
15 minutes away from us here in Sauteurs. During turtle
nesting season, it is a prohibited area and permission is required
for the purpose of turtle viewing. We can apply
for you and we can book you into an organised tour where you will be
accompanied by experts. Your guides will share all that they know
about the leatherback turtle with you including their experiences with
previous turtle visits and encounters.
The
turtles are monitored every year to record which ones have returned
to the beach that they were born on. The turtle stewards record each
visit and will tag the turtles with a microchip in order to be able to
identify each turtle and understand what it's activities
have been since the turtle was last seen.
What can you expect from this
activity?
You
can enjoy a close encounter with the world's fourth largest reptile
(after 3 crocodilians). Your visit will commence at the Levera Beach
Information Centre at Bathway Beach. You will be introduced to the
world of the leatherback turtle and what the local organisation
(SPECTO) St Patrick's Eco-Conservation Tourism Organisation are doing
to protect the species. Then you will be accompanied down to Levera
Beach with a guide who will take you to the turtles once they are
ready to receive viewers. You can then watch the turtles dig their
nests in the sand as other turtles may appear at the shoreline ready
to lay their eggs.
The
turtles will then lay up to 120 eggs each and will cover the nest
with sand for the eggs to mature for hatching. After 50-70 days the
eggs will begin to hatch. When the eggs hatch, hundreds of baby
turtles of just 4-6 inches long will cross the beach looking for the
shoreline. Each baby turtle is a miniature of their huge and
fascinating parents.
What else do you need to know?
The
mothers will return to lay eggs between 3 and 6 times each season.
It's not every season that the mother will mate, so she might not
return for 2-3 years.
The
turtle stewards from both Specto and from Ocean Spirits will leave
the turtle babies to find their own way to the sea, as they will need
to remember the beach in order for them to return at maturity to lay
their own eggs. Only one of every one thousand babies reach adulthood
and
return to the beach to lay their own eggs.
How to book your encounter with
nature
If you would like
us to book your once in a lifetime experience of an encounter with
the leatherback turtles or even if you'd just like to know more,
please get in touch. Click
Here
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