The Leatherbacks!

The three researcher's

Checking out the turtle

Digging her nest

Catching the eggs

Leatherback turtles can lay anywhere from 50-120 eggs

Measuring the length of her shell (we think about 5 feet long)

Measuring the width of her shell

Pink Floyd re-make?

Going..

Making her way back

The eager crowd

Last night a group of us friends hopped onto a bus and headed out in hopes of seeing a Leatherback turtle. As luck had it, we got there around 8pm (about a two hour bus ride) and jumped out of the bus to see a mother leatherback on the sand! We were so excited! We had to stay behind out guide (Dora) most of the time. It was so fascinating to see the turtle lay her eggs! First, she dug out a hole with her back flippers, using them exactly as you would a shovel. She would really scoop out the sand with her huge flipper! It was so cool! It is hard to tell the size of her, but she was gigantic! I whispered to Sara standing close by, that she kind of reminded me of the turtle on the "Neverending Story." It was crazy seeing something that big moving around on the sand.
I also should apologize that these photographs are not the best. You have to take in mind that we were not allowed to use any white light at all,...so no flashes, no flashlights, nada. The researchers and our guide carried a red light with them, that doesn't affect the turtles, which is why alot of my pictures have a red glow to them. That was my only source of light. I also didn't have a tripod and it was about 9-10pm at night, so it was pretty black. I actually couldn't even see the turtle when they turned their red lights off, and I would just shoot hoping to get her in the picture. Luck must have been on my side, cause I caught a couple of her without the red glow.
When she started laying her eggs, one of the researchers held out her hand to catch them. I really wanted to touch her, and was sad that we didn't get the chance to. I guess you normally get to when they are laying their eggs, but there were too many people. :(
It was such a neat experience and I am so glad we got to go and watch it!