Turtles!!

Turtles are amazing creatures...so gentle. And so BIG.

We watched a 400 lb green turtle come out of the water, dig a HUGE nest and lay hundreds of eggs Wednesday night, on the beach in front of our hotel. It was about midnight and there was a group of about 10 of us watching. We'd all been gathered around one of the (many) turtle nests on Half Moon Bay "waiting...waiting...waiting" for the hatchlings to come out. The nests are marked with the date the eggs are laid - it takes more or less 60 days for them to hatch.

Turtle nests are marked with rocks and a sign with the date eggs were laid


Close up of marked nest. There are so many on the beach you have to watch where you walk.

But, like all babies, they are on their own schedule. We were about to give up when the CEA (the org. that protects them here in Akumal) guide called us over to watch the mama nesting. The turtles enter into a trance-like state when they are laying eggs, so they don't mind people being near.

Mama digs down, down, down with her front flippers - about 18", that takes about 30 min or so. Then she enters her trance and lays the eggs for about another 30 minutes. When the eggs are laid, she uses her back flippers to pack sand around the eggs. Finally, she buries the eggs with her front flippers by throwing sand behind her - and on us! Too funny.

Any light used on the turtles at night must be red. White light confuses them, since white light may be confused for think it is the moon. One of the people watching accidentally set off her flash - but LUCKILY...I already had my camera poised with the button ready, only it was too dark so it wouldn't take. As soon as HER flash went off, my camera took the picture! Yay! She got chastised and I got a great shot (with no flash!)

First, she digs the nest, then lays the eggs, then buries the nest.

After laying the eggs, she makes her way back to the water

The whole nest-building-egg-laying process took about 90 minutes!

BLOG BREAK - BLOG BREAK - BLOG BREAK...

I just answered a knock on our door from the security guard for our hotel (didn't even know we had one until now). The CEA guide from two nights ago knew we wanted to see the turtles so he asked the guard to get us. It's 9:30, but our light was on. He was so apologetic, but thought we'd want to see a mama lay her eggs. He didn't know we'd witnessed that awesome event on Wednesday and we didn't have the heart to tell him, so we traipsed back out in the sand to find a small crowd already gathered. However, it turned out to be somewhat of a false alarm because this mama had a damaged front flipper and although the guide was trying to help her dig, she couldn't do it, so she gave up and headed back into the water. So sad. They thought she'd keep trying, as she'd already come out of the water once tonight. We decided to let the rest of the folks stay up and we headed back - with a big thanks to Gabriel the guide for thinking of us (it was actually "Erikka" he told the guard to ask for :)

OK, BREAK OVER...

Thursday was snorkel day - Akumal is known for the abundant amount of turtles that inhabit the bay. Snorkelers are almost guaranteed to swim with them. And..."swimming" with them is exactly what you do, since they swim at about the same speed as we do. They don't seem to mind people at all (I'm sure we're just more fish in the sea to them). The first photo shows two barracuda on top of the turtle. Every time the turtle surfaced, they went underneath, then back up top just before getting smushed as the turtle returned to the ocean floor to eat. Totally cool.

Akumal Bay, Mexico

Wednesday was also a snorkel day. Went to Yal-Ku Lagoon - about 3 minutes from Half Moon Bay.

Fish were EVERYWHERE here. You pay to get in - but it's a great way to spend $10.

Love this picture!!!


I need to look this up - have no idea what it is but they were all over the bottom of the lagoon.

BLOG BREAK - BLOG BREAK - BLOG BREAK ...

Gabriel just knocked again - this time the mama with the hurt fin was able to finish her nest. Erikka & Trev were asleep, but I woke them and Erikka and I went down to watch. Trevor asked if we could "take a picture" haha. We did - and it was worth the trip. This was a loggerhead, not a green turtle like a couple of nights ago. So different in the way she built her nest. Took great photos and video of the eggs, which were waaaay down a cylinder-shaped hole she dug.

They use their front fins like hands, digging straight down and scooping sand, then carefully lifting it out. Amazing.

Here's a 21 sec video!

OK, Break's over - and so is this update, except for a few photos of La Buena Vida down the street...

We had drinks in the “Crow’s Nest” – a palapa-covered palm tree. Notice the bucket (white, on left of photo, hanging from rope) to pull your beverages up. And those signs on the tree? “Climb under your own risk” Ha!

What was interesting was that you couldn’t eat up there, they were only for drinks. So, climb up, drink alcohol, then don’t fall on your way down. And, by the way, they do slightly weave when you’re sitting up there – and I promise, it wasn’t the margarita