Another turtle nest has been discovered at Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Mueang National Park, just north of Phuket in Phang Nga province. National park officers made the discovery in the Thai Mueang district following a reported sighting of a female leatherback turtle heading towards the ocean.
That’s the third such discovery in as many weeks.
According to a Phuket News report, officers tracked the turtle’s tracks and were able to estimate her width, including body and both flippers, as around 210 centimetres and her shell as 110 cm.
Officers then found the nest of eggs in a hole measuring 65 cm in depth and 37 cm in width. The nest contained 103 eggs, 73 of which were fertilised. Each egg measures around 5.45 cm (poor mum pushing out 103 of those!)
The nest has now been moved up the beach as its original location is at the high tide mark. Officers have also built a temporary enclosure to keep the nest safe from reptiles and will monitor it until the eggs hatch, which is expected to happen sometime in the third week of February.
Earlier this month, national park officers in the same area found a turtle nest containing 118 eggs, 84 of which were fertilised. They believe the two nests are from two different mothers.
SOURCE: The Phuket News
