Volunteer Voice: Hatchling Watch has begun

-Written by Annie and Peter, 2 and 3 month volunteers

It has been another eventful week at our humble abode known as Jalova.  Besides having loads of chips, or French fries as some like to call them, there were many things happening on the trails and the beach as well.  Perhaps the most exciting of them all was seeing hatchlings!  Some of us were lucky enough to see Leatherback Turtle hatchlings early in the week during a nest check where we stumbled upon two stragglers coming out of an unmarked nest.  We helped the first one along by sprinkling him with some water and making sure he made it all the way to the ocean. The second one took a bit more work. We re-buried it, went to check a nest then came back and he was ready to go. Later on in the week another group discovered a leatherback hatchling once again struggling to make its first trip to the sea.  Instead of allowing the turtle to accept defeat they nursed it along the way and it was able to make it to the Caribbean for the first swim of many to come.  We also set up quite a few runways and those nests are now on hatchling watch, meaning we keep an eye out each day for the emergence of new hatchlings. This includes the nest of the first Leatherback Turtle that was worked this season over two months ago, so the next couple of weeks should be hatchling filled!

One of our first Leatherback hatchlings making it's way back to sea.

Volunteer Voice: Hatchling Watch has begun