First Turtle Midwife Experience!

Night Survey Truck

My comfort level on the beach has increased exponentially each day that I’ve been here, and by now, my third night on, I am comfortable walking around in the dark. Earlier, I was worried about what I was stepping on, jumping out of the way when the waves got too close to make sure my shoes didn’t get wet, and always, always having my headlamp on while in motion. Since nothing ever jumped out at me and the ghost crabs scuttled out of the way, my worries must have unconsciously defused.

I was on the second patrol with Kimron when we saw a turtle coming out of the sea ahead of us on the way back. Strangely enough, they are much easier to see in the dark.  She took her time and came a long way up the beach which was great. However, as her egg chamber started to get deeper, water started to pool in the bottom. She seemed to feel it with her flipper but kept digging, and the chamber started to cave in because of the wetness. So we planned to move the eggs, which was just as well for me as you’ll see.

Here was my great opportunity to be a turtle midwife! I lay down on the sand behind her and we pushed sand back into the chamber so that I would not have to reach in so far. Of course I had put off wearing my rain pants so got damp – I think they have taken on a slightly malicious personality and are trying to prove to me how useful they are at every opportunity they get because of my early skepticism. When she started laying, boy she started laying! I barely managed to gently get two eggs before another four tumbled out. Some were rolling into the far end of the chamber, so Kimron pushed more sand in, and in that time probably another 8 came out! I quickly lost count. I started again for practice, but could only get two at a time into the bucket while she was dropping 2-5 every few seconds! I held one of her flippers away with one hand, grabbed the eggs with the other while trying to avoid banging into her shell with my head or slipping into the chamber head first! If I had had time to think about anything other than numbers, I might have laughed, but would probably have gotten a mouthful of sand, so it was just as well that I was intent on the task. The eggs were warm and covered in a clear gooey substance which dried quickly. It sounds gross, but really wasn’t.

Measuring turtle shell, L: 154 cm, W:112 cm

While all this was going on, a second turtle came up not far away, so Kimron went to deal with her. However, she was just on a turtle walkabout, and went back to sea without digging or laying, almost as though thinking, “nah, not today, she can barely keep up with one”.

I then dug a new egg chamber under Kimron's patient guidance. He drew a circle of the approximate circumference, and I began to lift out the sand with my hands. It’s surprisingly easy to do, and soon you have a long cylinder. The sand is moist and warm lower down and seems almost cozy. Eggs can develop into either male or female. Males develop in the colder regions of the chamber and females where it’s warmer (I’ll refrain from any wise cracks about the sexes here). We dropped the eggs in, added sand, put in a tape with the date and the turtle’s tag numbers, took measurements to mark its location, and covered it up thoroughly.

Since our turtle was a new one, I had the honor of naming her, and named her Asha after my mother, which means hope in Hindi. As she made her way laboriously back to the sea, stopping often probably from the effort of the night, I stood behind her silently in the starting drizzle and watched her go. I mentally wished her a long and productive life of freedom to swim the oceans and hopefully return here some day to lay more eggs for the continuation of her wonderful species.