The Bhejane Nature Training students have had the
opportunity this week to go and watch the Turtle nesting at Bhanga Nek and
while in the area a drive through Tembe Elephant Park during the day.
Tembe elephant park delivered once again with some great
elephant sightings. The Tembe bush is green and dense with all the rain we have
had the past month and this makes game spotting slightly more challenging. It
was nice to see all the young, new born animals that are around, from the
youngest Impala ive seen to date, which was probably just approaching the end
of its laying out period, to some really small warthogs we found hiding behind
a dead branch next to the road.
The students stayed over at the Rocktail Bay beach lodge, in
the beautiful sand forest lying right next to the beautiful protected beaches
of the area. From Rocktail we drove to Bhanga Nek beach along the challenging
coastal sand roads to meet the guide to take us on our Turtle tour. We walked 12km in total, but every step of
the way was worth the final result we got.
At the 6km mark we found one loggerhead turtle making her
way out of the ocean and up onto the beach. We sat for about 40minutes waiting
for her to find the right spot where she will then start digging to lay her
eggs. This particular turtle couldn’t find soft, suitable sand for her nest and
then she turned around and headed back to the ocean. The nesting area must be
selected cautiously because it affects characteristics such as fitness,
emergence ration and vulnerability to predators for the hatchlings and if the
female cant find a suitable area, she will return to the ocean and try again at
a different spot along the beach.
About 100m from our tours starting point we found another
Loggerhead moving up the beach and sat down once again to wait and see if she
will find a suitable spot and start nesting. After about 30minutes she started
digging and the guide took us in to watch the process. It was amazing to see
how she can use her back fins for digging and how effective she is at using
them as she digs down into the soft sand. After about 15 minutes of digging the
egg laying process started. The turtles’ eyes are very sensitive to light and
we used one red light to see what was happening, avoiding the head region. The
last thing we wanted to do is to disturb the turtle and cause her to go back
into the ocean without laying her eggs.
Loggerhead turtles nest in intervals of 2 to 4 years and
will lay 3 to 6 nests per season, at approximate intervals of 12–17
days during the nesting season, on or near the beach where they hatched.
They will lay an average of between 100 to 126 eggs in each nest, which will
then incubate for about 60 days. After
the eggs have been laid the female will cover the egg chamber and body pit with
sand and return to the sea. The whole process can take up to 2 hours!
This was truly an amazing experience to have been part of
and 60 days from now there will be small Loggerhead turtles emerging from that
exact spot!
The level 1 Marine and terrestrial groups will be going on
turtle tours tonight and we look forward to hearing about their experiences
when they return!
The video underneath is a short edit on the Experiences the Impi's had on the trip!
For more information on Bhejane Nature Training and Available 2013 Course, email us on info@bhejanenaturetraining.com today!
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| Rocktail Bay under the Night Sky |
Creating Awareness Through Wilderness....
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