Upon our return to Grenada, while preparing Sunshine II for storage during the upcoming hurricane season, we were informed of a special outing to the North East coast of Grenada. The purpose of this outing was to get a chance to view one of natures rare events, a sea turtle laying eggs. Well, making that decision was a no brainier and we jumped at the opportunity to witness this once in a life time event. On the appointed evening we were picked up at our boat yard by our good friend and taxi driver Patrick "Shade man" James at 1930 hours with plans of returning the next morning around daybreak. Our journey took us over and thru Grenada's rain forest arriving around 2200 hours at a small beach town where we enjoyed an evening meal of fried chicken. Around 2300 the word came in from one of the scouts that some turtles had been sighted coming ashore so we got back into the van and journeyed the last mile or two to a beach where the scouts guided us to the site of one of natures great moments.
This photo was taken without the aid of a tripod and with only the light of a red filtered flashlight. Look closely and you can make out the top rear of her shell and the right rear flipper. At this point in time she has just finished laying her clutch of eggs and is beginning to cover them with sand and camouflage the location. This incredible creature is about six feet long and probably weighs between 1200 and 1500 pounds.
There were a couple of veterinary students from St. Georges University along with a representative of an environmental group which was logging the event. They told us that this turtle laid over 100 "yolked" eggs. Statistics indicate that less than five of these eggs will produce a hatching which will survive until adult hood.
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