After four attempts on land, a mother sea turtle laid 75 eggs on the sandy beach of Hon Cau Island, Tuy Phong District, early morning on August 26.
The mother turtle covers her newly laid eggs on Hon Cau, early morning on August 26. (Video: Hon Cau Conservation Area).
The mother sea turtle belongs to the Green Turtle species (scientific name Chelonia mydas), which crawled up to dig a nest and laid 75 eggs on Trang Dao beach at 5:30 AM yesterday.
Ms. Luu Yen Phi, a staff member of the conservation area, reported that the turtle measured 97 cm in length, 88 cm in width, and weighed over 70 kg. On August 25, she and 12 volunteers from the sea turtle protection group patrolled the area and discovered the mother turtle had come ashore at 7 PM. “After crawling up and down four times, the mother turtle finally laid her eggs in the early morning. After 30 minutes, she used her flippers to cover the nest and returned to the sea,” Ms. Phi stated.
Yesterday morning, the group collected the eggs and brought them to the nesting area next to the patrol station on the island, where they will be closely monitored until the eggs hatch.
75 rare sea turtle eggs collected to be taken to the nesting site. (Photo: Hon Cau Conservation Area).
This is the second time this year, that a sea turtle has come ashore on Hon Cau Island to lay eggs. Earlier in August, another sea turtle also laid nearly 80 eggs on Trang Dao beach.
In recent years, Hon Cau Island has recorded many instances of sea turtles coming ashore to lay eggs. The collected nests have been successfully incubated, and the hatchlings are later released back into the ocean.
The Hon Cau Marine Protected Area covers 12,500 hectares (including the island and its surrounding waters). This is a provincial conservation area for species and habitats.
