1st Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings 2014-2015 season

[Warren Klein]

Our first Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) nests started to emerge yesterday in Soyo Northern Angola.

Here are some of the little hatchling as they make their way down the beach and into the Congo River mouth.

[Bushviper]

Have you ever thought of scooping them all up and taking them a few hundred metres out behind the breakers to avoid all the predators that usually get them before they have a decent chance? The fish and birds will not die if they dont get to eat a few turtles but those extra few turtles could make a difference a decade or two later.

[Nafcerion]

Very nice pics! lovely ... but i wont help the poor bugger , that is nature

[Warren Klein]

In the early years of the project I used to take the hatchlings out past the "breakers" although small being a river mouth and not the ocean. Lately we have been releasing hatchling later in the day when the fish are not actively feeding which mitigates the risk of fish predation. Allowing the hatchling to walk their beach under supervision is an important part of their lives as this is the time when they imprint on their beach so they know where to return one day if they survive to reproduce. It also gets all their part working before the big swim almost like a warm up to the big event.

[Ruan Stander]

What an incredible sight that must be.
That is awesome, thank you so much for the photos.

[Bushviper]

Thanks for the explanation. I just feel we have screwed up the environment for them over so many years we can no longer claim "that it is natural". Plastic rubbish, over fishing and collection of breeding animal as delicacies are a reality they face so if we can give them a tiny step up it might help.

Great to see you are doing your bit to ensure the population gets stronger each year.

[Warren Klein]

No problem BV, I hear where you are coming from and agree that it is man's careless activities which are endangering Sea turtles and their environment in the first place. Nesting females and their eggs are still being poached on a daily basis here although we are doing what we can to minimize that threat. We also find stranded turtles which are heavily impacted with plastic litter in their guts. This is not the time to sit back and let nature take its own course as we have already interfered so much. I am also inclined to intervene and give an endangered species a helping hand whenever possible.

[mania]

Keep up the great work Good to see they are being helped.