Go With The Flow ~ My Passion for Sea Turtles

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that we just returned from our family vacation at  Disney's Vero Beach Resort in Florida.  It's our second visit and has been deemed by Honey as his all time favorite vacation spot (the rest of us agree).  Its gorgeous beaches, beautifully decorated suites, amazing staff that always has something fun planned for young and old, and of course (my personal favorite) the sea turtles!

It's no secret that I love turtles.  Long before Crush and lil Squirt were introduced in Finding Nemo, I have held a special place in my heart for these beautiful animals.  And coming to Vero Beach has now given me the chance not once, but TWICE to see them in their natural habitat.  Disney has adopted a 5-10 mile stretch of beach that they monitor daily during sea turtle nesting season.  Once a nest is found, they block it off in two different ways ~ a square marking means they are just protecting it, while a triangular marking means that they are studying it and using the data to further research to help these endangered animals.

This particular area is nesting grounds for the Loggerhead sea turtle, the Green sea turtle, and the "grand-daddy" of them all the Leatherback sea turtle.  I say "grand-daddy", because their shear size can range from 550 to 1,540 pounds.  Their front flippers alone can grow up to over 8 feet!  This photo doesn't even do them justice, as her back flipper and tail extend beyond the picture. (Taken by Disney Conservationist during a night walk observation)

If you are wondering how they were able to get so close, according to the conservationist they were actually over 15 feet away as her other flipper was also extended.  Also, when a female turtle is laying her eggs, she goes into a "trance" so to speak where she is completely still and quiet.  (So unlike the human birthing experience.  Lucky!)

We were fortunate to be able to see a Leatherback nest this year.  It was huge!  If you look at the markings in the back of the dunes, that's where her flipper was as she was moving the sand and digging a hole for her nest.  WOW!

Each nest is labeled with the type of turtle's nest, the date it was laid and the number of nest found this season.  So you can see that this nest was the 5th nest of the year and laid on April 29th.  With a typical incubation time ranging from 55-90 days, this nest is due to hatch any day!!

Both trips we had the privilege of observing how they find and mark of a newly discovered nest.  As the mothers lay their eggs at night, the crew is up bright and early each morning combing the beach for newly laid nests.  So at 7am (not your typical wake up time on vacation, I know), Miss B, Honey & I were out on the beach ready to see what they had found.  The boys opted for sleep.  :)  

Loggerhead turtles are more common here so that's the type of nest we were able to see both years.  Here are the mothers tracks as she climbs the beach to find just the right spot to lay her eggs.  Loggerhead tracks look like commas in the sand as they move one flipper at a time as they crawl (similar to how we put one foot in front of the other to walk).  Leatherback and Green sea turtles use both their front flippers at the same time to move through the sand. (Have you figured out how much this is a passion of mine yet!?!)  :)

Once she finds her spot, she begins the process of digging a hole in the sand to lay her eggs.  Each turtle is different is the amount of time this takes.  Typically this is what a fresh Loggerhead nest looks like....

As you can see the nest can be rather large, so how do they find the eggs? Well, Disney has adopted a very special dog named Dory and trained her to locate them by being able to smell the mucus that surrounds the freshly laid eggs.  I'm sure you're thinking the same thing we were, Dory??  Dory (the fish) is known for her short term memory loss.  Hmmm....  But not this pup, she is one smart cookie!  Once released, she sniffs around the nest until she finds the scent of the eggs and then simply sits, letting the Conservationists know right where to start digging to locate the top of the nest.

Then the search begins.  Loggerhead nest are typically not that deep... about elbow length or so in the sand.

Once the nest is found, we are carefully able to take a peek into the hole before it is covered back up, and the nest marked off.  It was so amazing!  While you can only see a few, there are typically 115-150 eggs in each nest!

Now if you think I wasn't grinning from ear to ear at this point, you should have seen me on our first trip when we actually got to see some baby hatchlings being released into the ocean!  Don't judge, but yes tears were shed.  (I know, I know... but it was such an amazing sight to see and for a turtle lover like me ~ a possible once-in-a-lifetime experience!)


Sometimes when a nest hatches, there may be a few baby turtles that need a little extra help.  So Disney takes them and makes sure that they get any extra attention they may need before releasing them into the water.  This was the case on our last trip.  4 babies turtles ready to find their way to the ocean, Four!!!  :)  

They are so cute and tiny!!!  We were all told to make two lines leading down to the ocean.  Once they released them, we were not allowed to move, or touch them in anyway (it's illegal).  Even if they got caught up in a wave an washed back up over our feet, DON'T MOVE!  And then they were off ...

Almost there!  Look at their little tracks!!!!  :)

And finally, they made it!  

It was unbelievable!  It still puts a smile on my face to this day.  

I want to leave you with this quote that I found that speaks not only to the life of a turtle but to all of us as well...

"It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you don't stop."  ~ Confucius

XOXO
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