With people, dogs, and idiots banned from beaches, the world’s largest sea turtles are returning to shores in numbers that haven’t been seen for decades.
Empty stretches of sand are a welcome sight for leatherback turtles, who are poking their heads out and nesting where it’s safe.
All hail the return of the giant turtles. Leatherback numbers will be “coming in strong this year,” according to Loggerhead Marine Center.
Across Juno, Jupiter-Carlin, and Tequesta Beaches in Florida, 81 leatherback nests have been discovered by the local marine centre.
“Our leatherbacks are coming in strong this year,” the senior manager of research and data at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Sarah Hirsch said to CBS 12 News. “It’s going to be a really good year for our leatherbacks.”
Leatherbacks can range from 250-700kg in weight and live for about 30 years. They’re known to lay eggs in quiet, dark areas, but these eggs are often dug up and stolen by humans on popular beaches.
In Thailand, the collapse of the tourism economy has freed up beaches and seen a similar return of wildlife. 11 turtle nests were found near Phuket since November. Reports showed that these were the first nests discovered in five years.
“This is a very good sign for us because many areas for spawning have been destroyed by humans,” Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong, the director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center, told Reuters.
“If we compare to the year before, we didn’t have this many spawn, because turtles have a high risk of getting killed by fishing gear and humans disturbing the beach.”
This news comes after goats were seen roaming the streets of Wales and dolphins appeared in Venice’s canals. Is Noah’s Ark unloading?
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