At the resort near Playa Del Carmen, walking back to our room from dinner (it was quite a ways) we saw a couple hanging out on the beach. We politely ignored them (hey, everyone needs privacy sometimes) but as we walked by they said, "Hey, you guys, I don't know if you want to see...... a giant sea turtle?"
Well, actually that sounds great! We love giant sea turtles! It turns out that some turtles come up onto the beach to nest and they had found one. It was a full moon and a clear night, so it was perfect nesting time. While we were watching one turtle dig her nest, another turtle came out of the ocean, went straight over to the digging turtle and sort of clambered right on in, right on top of the digging turtle! The digging turtle left, and the interloper started digging. She totally stole the digger's nest!
There was still plenty of digging to do, though. The sand was flying! I sat behind her and got sand flipped onto my feet and ankles. It was great!
We saw one or two more that night, including this one who apparently wanted to dig under the beach chairs.
The next night we took our friends out to look, and saw one actually laying her eggs. We were careful to be quiet and not use a flash, thus, we have no decent pictures. We left when she started to cover them up to give her peace of mind while hiding her eggs.
There is a crew that comes by and labels the nests, and then someone else comes to collect the eggs and take them to a hatchery.
Eventually they release the baby turtles, which my friend got to do, but I wasn't there. It was such a great treat! I knew it was nesting time, but I didn't think they turtles would come up onto our beach. :-) Bye, sea turtles, it was wonderful seeing you!
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