Sea Turtles Hatching on the Beach in Jamaica

Sometimes you have an amazing experience that makes you feel alright with the world and that money cannot buy. Jamaica gave me one of those truly feel good moments recently when I saw gorgeous Baby Sea Turtles hatching on the beach….

Mother Nature is amazing and I un-expectantly got a taster when I was at the beach recently on the North Coast of Jamaica (for the purposes of protecting the Mother Turtles secret, I will keep the name of the beach between the Sea Turtles and I!). After spending a few hours at the beach we were swimming when slight dew rain started falling and there was lightning flashes out to sea. We were considering coming out of the water, but the rain stopped so we decided to stay where we were. We noticed a crowd of people were forming into a circle on the beach, with everyone staring at the sand. After a couple of minutes of wondering what was going on, it became apparent that there were Sea Turtles hatching on the beach!

Many of the locals believed that the lightning had made them hatch and they were carefully picking up the turtles and putting them in the sea. I have to say they are one of the cutest things I have ever seen. They have the biggest doe eyes and squirm about with real intent to get into the deep-sea and away from predators on the land and in the shallows. I have to admit for a nano-second I really, really wanted to keep one and raise it, but I soon decided this would be cruel and purely for selfish reasons and would not be in the best interest of the little Sea Turtle.

Needless to say I quickly took a few photographs before I swam out really far into the sea with three Sea Turtles. I then said a little prayer for them and wished them a long and happy life! The first two ducked their heads under the water and swam about a metre (about 3.3 foot) before popping up their heads for a gulp of air, before doing the same again until they were so far away I could no longer see them. The last one stuck around for a while longer, whilst I trod water in the deep-sea it stopped for a while and just looked at me with its beautiful big eyes for about a minute or so, before swimming off itself. Again I watched at it swam out into the deep, smiling to myself at the magical experience Jamaica had given me.

Please do not touch, take or harm Sea Turtles if you see them. No Sea Turtles were harmed in the making of this post!

 

If you want more information on Sea Turtles or want to Support the Sea Turtle Conservation Project in Jamaica then contact JET – Jamaica Environmental Trust. http://www.jamentrust.org/conservation/jamaica-sea-turtle-project.html

The Jamaica Environment Trust is a non-profit, non-governmental membership organization operating in the island of Jamaica. We were formed in 1991 and our main focus is environmental education and advocacy.