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| Not a leatherback Nor on Thai Muang Reef...but still Wicked:) |
We also dive on the reef directly in front of the park in a place called Hidden reef, as it was "discovered" by the WWF when doing research on the local reefs after the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. (Several of us had dived there before that point...but hey, any publicity is good publicity!). A link to our sister site about diving Thai Muang Reef
It is appropriate that now, just a few days before the anniversary of the tsunami that some amazing news has come out of Thai Muang...the Leatherback turtles have returned!!!
There have been not one, but TWO different nests on the in the past weeks and with the method of Turtleback nesting, there should be more nests laid in the coming weeks! This is great news as it has been a few years since the last Leatherback nest was found. As this is also one of only two beaches in Thailand where the Leatherbacks nest...this is amazing news.
Leatherback Turtles are quite susceptible to being caught caught in fishing nets as by-catch and on longline fishing (for tuna). Their numbers have dwindled dramatically in the past decades and even a sighting of one is rare, let alone a nest. Another major cause of their dwindling numbers is connected to the use of plastic bags. Yes, it's true...those cheap plastic bags you get can kill these turtles who mistake them floating in the ocean as jellyfish. The plastic is not digested and takes up space in their digestive tract, making them slowly starve. Please do not use plastic bags :(
We hope to visit the hatchery in just a few days and possibly bring back pictures of the eggs and talk with the rangers about the process of hatching, gestation cycle and planned release dates and locations for the hatchlings. We'll bring you more news on that soon!!!
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