The Turtles are Coming!!

"Look out! The turtles are coming and coming and coming...

This is set to be a record year for nesting leatherback turtles on the coast of northern and eastern Trinidad with as many as 7,000 females expected to come ashore.

On just one beach, Grande Riviere, conservationists counted 388 nesting on one night earlier this month and now expect this to surpass the previously unthinkable total of 500 laying females. " Trinidad Express -May 21st, 2007

Yes folks, we're talking about MY island!!:)

Anyone who's never been turtle-watching has missed a great treat. Admittedly, yours truly falls into the never-been-turtle-watching category in that I've never deliberately set out to lose a night of sleep awaiting the arrival of the odd, arbitrary turtle on a cold, wet and sandfly-ridden beach. However, I do know what the experience is like, since I've slept out on beaches and had leatherback turtles toss their sand against the body of my tent!

A nesting turtle is an awe-inspiring experience. Last year, my in-laws paid something like $30US per person [I'll have to check out the actual figure and re-publish] to have some shitty guide take them to a beach and get soaked in the rain, all for the sake of one or two turtles. It was on Turtle Beach, Tobago, and as much as I love my sister island, I bluntly forewarned them that they would be wasting their time. When it comes to turtles, Trinidad is it! I patiently explained to them, that in all my experiences with 'turtle watching', it was the turtles who watched me, not the other way around! I explained to them: "Pitch your tent on any eastern or northern beach in Trinidad, and you'll see turtles all night long, and free too!" In turn, they were like, "We're only here for a week, we can't miss the opportunity!" So.. I went to bed, and left them to it!

So, honestly, I'm sorry that they couldn't have been here, this year. They're missing out on a lot. Even if Trinis pay to see turtles, it's usually something like $10TT per person (about $1.58US). For the price that my in-laws paid in Tobago, they could have probably enjoyed the entire season in Trinidad! Anyways.. enough rambling. I'm going turtle watching, this year!

"This is an amazing year. The biggest nesting season on record. The turtles are big and robust and we are thrilled to see so many on the beaches," said Scott Eckert, a conservation biologist widely recognised for his pioneering research on turtles.