Green Turtle Nest at One&Only Reethi Rah

When I arrived back to the island from my vacation in Thailand there was some exciting news waiting for me. A green turtle had come and laid a nest, on Turtle beach of all places. How fantastic :)

Worldwide, there are only 8 species of turtles, 5 of which are known to occur in the Maldives; the Leatherback turtle, Loggerhead, Olive Ridley, Green and Hawksbill turtle. Turtles are actually marine reptiles and they must come to the surface to breathe. They spend their entire lives out at sea only returning to the land to nest. It is quite remarkable as they return back to the same beach were they were born decades before! Scientists believe that they use the Earth’s magnetic compass to navigate back kind of like a GPS but this is still yet to be proven. Still very cool though!

The Green and Hawksbill Turtles are the most common turtles in the Maldives and nest frequently throughout the islands. Green turtles nest at intervals of 2, 3 or more years. During a nesting season they will nest 3 to 5 times and lay on average about 115 ping pong like eggs in each nest.  The hatchlings hatch about 60 days after the eggs have been laid and usually emerge from the nest in groups at night. They will orientate themselves with the brightest light, which is the reflection of the moon on the horizon, and make a mad dash for the ocean. If they don’t make it to the ocean quickly many hatchlings will die from predators like birds and crabs, and then also sharks and big fish once they enter the water. In fact, only one in a thousand will survive to adulthood and this is just from natural factors!!!  Pretty crazy stuff.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there; every species of sea turtle is actually listed as endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and like most things in this world, it is due to human threats. Turtles are harvested for their meat and for their shells, they are made into turtle curry or soup, into bracelets and sunglasses. In addition to this direct harvest, turtles are also captured in fishing nets and lines, which results in the death of tens of thousands of turtles annually. These are just of few of the threats facing turtles, there are many more but I don’t want to depress you too much! In the Maldives there has been a ban on the catching of sea turtles since June 1995, but sadly catching and killing turtles does still happen on some of the islands. A bigger problem is that there is no ban for the collection of turtle eggs which continues to happen through the Maldives. It is therefore of utmost importance to protect nesting beaches from the exploitation of eggs as well as creating awareness about this and the importance of protecting turtles. These ancient marine reptiles have been around for a 100 million years and we want to keep it that way for another 100 at least!

The nest at Turtle Beach has been protected with an enclosure and do not disturb sign. I am expecting it to hatch any day soon, actually that’s not entirely true, as the hatchlings will emerge in the early hours of the morning. It’s going to be a very long night but definitely worth it as this is my chance to witness one of nature’s unique and incredible events. What an amazing opportunity and how lucky for me that’s it’s happening right on my doorstep, whoop whoop. The countdown begins so watch this space…..