Playa Los Muertos
Today we have been blessed with the greatest of luck. When disembarking at Playa Los Muertos for beach activities and little bit of bird watching, we suddenly saw something lying on the beach. Imagine our surprise when we realized that we were watching one of the most unusual things in the world - a sea turtle laying eggs at the beach in daylight (usually they lay eggs during the night).
Here in the picture we see a green turtle (Chelonian mydas agassizii). Green turtles are mainly found in tropical oceans, but may occasionally wander into temperate seas. The Pacific green turtle is geographically isolated from its Atlantic counterpart. It inhabits the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. The green turtle is the only marine turtle that comes to shore to bask in full sunlight. A female lays 100 or so eggs in a cavity excavated with her hind flippers, and then covers the nest and returns to the sea. The incubation period of the eggs is between 50 and 70 days. Hatchling sea turtles suffer a high mortality rate since they often come under attack from predators as soon as they leave the nest. Vultures, gulls, and frigate birds, as well as crabs attacks baby turtles as they plod toward the ocean, where many predatory fish await. According to some estimates, only 30% of the hatchlings reach the water. The temperature at which eggs are incubated determines the sex of the young. An incubation temperature that is only slightly higher than the pivotal incubation temperature (the temperature at which 50% of the offspring are males and the other 50% females) produce mainly females and eggs incubated at lower temperature than their pivotal temperature produce predominantly males.
In the afternoon we had one of the most interesting social experiences of the trip, when visiting the Embera Indians in the Darien region of Panama to take in their culture and buy some of their beautiful handicrafts.
Today we have been blessed with the greatest of luck. When disembarking at Playa Los Muertos for beach activities and little bit of bird watching, we suddenly saw something lying on the beach. Imagine our surprise when we realized that we were watching one of the most unusual things in the world - a sea turtle laying eggs at the beach in daylight (usually they lay eggs during the night).
Here in the picture we see a green turtle (Chelonian mydas agassizii). Green turtles are mainly found in tropical oceans, but may occasionally wander into temperate seas. The Pacific green turtle is geographically isolated from its Atlantic counterpart. It inhabits the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. The green turtle is the only marine turtle that comes to shore to bask in full sunlight. A female lays 100 or so eggs in a cavity excavated with her hind flippers, and then covers the nest and returns to the sea. The incubation period of the eggs is between 50 and 70 days. Hatchling sea turtles suffer a high mortality rate since they often come under attack from predators as soon as they leave the nest. Vultures, gulls, and frigate birds, as well as crabs attacks baby turtles as they plod toward the ocean, where many predatory fish await. According to some estimates, only 30% of the hatchlings reach the water. The temperature at which eggs are incubated determines the sex of the young. An incubation temperature that is only slightly higher than the pivotal incubation temperature (the temperature at which 50% of the offspring are males and the other 50% females) produce mainly females and eggs incubated at lower temperature than their pivotal temperature produce predominantly males.
In the afternoon we had one of the most interesting social experiences of the trip, when visiting the Embera Indians in the Darien region of Panama to take in their culture and buy some of their beautiful handicrafts.
