Picture of Leatherback turtle on the beach, about to lay eggs (Galibi, Surinam)

Leatherback turtle about to lay eggs

Send image of Leatherback turtle on the beach, about to lay eggs as a free postcard
Download picture of Leatherback turtle on the beach, about to lay eggs
Purchase Leatherback turtle on the beach, about to lay eggs (Surinam)

When a big dark shadow moved ashore and climbed up the beach, we became very emotional and did not take our eyes off this huge leatherback turtle until it had laid all its eggs.
But much sooner than we expected, our guide pointed to the beach with his torch, and we saw a black shadow moving on the beach. When we came ashore and able to appreciate the size of the reptile, we were awestruck. This is the largest living turtle on earth, and the largest reptile after crocodiles; the largest leatherbacks can reach a length of more than 2.5 metres and weigh up to 900kgs. The giant animal had already deposited her eggs, and was covering a quite large area of beach so predators would not easily find her nest and the precious eggs. One of the striking things was that the turtle was moaning and making a lot of noise, for the sheer effort it took her to do this hard work on the sand, with only her fins to move around on and move the sand, and a heavy body to drag along. We were very happy to have seen this turtle, but to our amazement, a large, dark shadow emerged from the sea: another leatherback to lay her eggs.
Read more about: Leatherback turtles

Tags for this picture:
| | | |

animal geyser beach rock Central&South America Asia Galibi Ramallah grey blue Leatherback turtles Sinterklaas entry Surinam Tanzania turtle yak

Around the World in 80 Clicks - All rights reserved - www.traveladventures.org - 1999-2008 Share your comments