OT- Sea Turtle

[marino420td]

This isn't exactly reef related but most reef keepers love all sea life so I thought I would share.

I just returned from a vacation to Panama City Beach, FL. While there I saw one of the coolest things ever. We were on the beach one night with flashlights, hunting for those little crabs and a huge sea turtle crawled out of the water. This thing was enormous. I would guess it weighed 200+ pounds.

The next morning, people from a group called Turtle Watch came and dug up the nest. They removed 151 eggs and relocated them to a safer part of the beach and roped off the nest.

This picture was taken with my cell phone so it is not the best

Here are the people removing the eggs.

 

[ratherbefishin]

cool picture of the turtle, ive never seen an adult sea turtle in the wild before, only at aquariums. my brother and his wife are in a sea turtle protection group here in NC and ive been out with them before to watch a nest at night. last summer i sat out four nights in a row hoping to see a hatch but didnt get lucky.

 

[Jen D]

That's really cool. I saw some roped off nests the last time I was in Florida, but no actual turtles.

 

[marino420td]

It is hard to describe how large this turtle was. It caught me by surprise and was only there for a minute then went back into the water. It came back later that night to lay the eggs.

Locals tell me it was a Loggerhead. The shell was probably 3 feet wide or more. The head was huge!