Page 13 - aruba-today-20170503

A13
LOCAL Wednesday 3 May 2017

The Leatherback Turtle Season has Started on Aruba!

one nest, but repeat the gion. Let’s see what 2017
egg laying every 8-12 days will bring us!
with an average of seven Leatherbacks can be
nests per season. The eggs found not only at Eagle
need 60 – 70 days of incu- Beach/Low Rise area, but
bation, so it will take about also at other sandy beach-
two months to see the little es like Arashi, Andicuri,

EAGLE BEACH – Recently
the first Leatherback nest
of this year was found on
the beach in front of Am- hatchings leaving the nest. Boca Grandi.
sterdam Manor and as we Last year a total of 20 nests If you find tracks/activity of
can see on the Driekiel-O- were counted on Eagle a sea turtle on the beach,
Meter sign there are two Beach, laid by just two dif- please call the Turtle Ho-
nests now. The Leather- ferent females. Those two tline as soon as possible.
back Sea Turtle is locally did a splendid job, above Thanks!
called Driekiel, hence the the average. But in gen- More info:
name Driekiel-O-Meter for eral 2016 was not a very turtugaruba@hotmail.
the big sign placed along abundant Leatherback comwww.facebook.com/
the Boulevard at Eagle nesting year, not here on Turtugaruba
Beach, in front of Paradise Aruba and neither in the Turtle Hotline (297) 592-
Beach Villa’s. You can find rest of the Caribbean re- 9393.q
a lot of information on this
sign.
The Leatherback Sea Turtle
(Dermochelyscoriacea)
is the largest of the seven
species of sea turtles living
in the world’s oceans to-
day. Aruba is proud to wel-
come these magnificent
animals every year. They
are the oldest “repeat
guests” of the island.
The Leatherback Sea Turtle
does not live in the Carib-
bean Sea, but in the North-
ern part of the Atlantic
Ocean. Every 2-4 years the
adult female will return to
lay her eggs on the beach
where she herself was
born. She does not lay just