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Turtle nesting & hatching travel info These females have the stupendous ability to return to the beaches from which they emerged as nestlings. An astounding feat considering they clock up quite a few miles on their watery journeys over thousands of kilometres, aided by prevailing currents.
Watching these female turtles make their cumbersome way up the beach to a suitable nesting spot to deliver their eggs - sometimes between 500 and a 1000, is enchanting. Glimpsing mom plop her hundreds of eggs, with perseverance and without weariness, into the warm sand, under African stars, with the Indian Ocean lapping at the shore, is a tremendously moving experience. The 50 gram hatchlings emerge between January and April, making their wobbly-legged approach to the shoreline in search of the great, and wet, aquatic unknown.
Loggerhead turtles may reach 1.20m in length and can way up to 140 kg, whereas Leatherbacks can reach an astonishing 2.5m, and can weigh a staggering 916kg!
At many of the beach lodges, guests can participate in beach patrols, witness the turtle laying under the supervision of trained local guides and dedicated conservationists. At Rocktail Bay in St Lucia, guests may also choose to 'adopt' a turtle - money goes towards the Maputaland Sea turtle Research Program, which is the longest research program of its kind in the world.
Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are the most tropical of all sea turtles. They are found primarily in warmer waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Hawksbills frequent rocky areas, coral reefs, shallow coastal areas, lagoons or oceanic islands, and narrow creeks and passes. The decline of this species is primarily due to human exploitation for tortoiseshell. While the legal hawksbill shell trade ended when Japan agreed to stop importing shell in 1993, a significant illegal trade continues.
The Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) is one of the largest turtles and is found in tropical waters all over the world between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. They can weigh up to 205Kg.
Please check with us on the exact season for turtle viewing at the lodge you would like to visit, as seasons and species vary slightly along the coastline.
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