Leatherback Turtle Hatchling, Grande Riviere, TrinidadJust got back late last night from Trinidad where I spent a few days photographing birds and the amazing leatherback turtles. Female leatherbacks return to the beaches to lay their eggs starting in mid March. The eggs hatch about 60 days later so I was hoping to catch a few of the first hatchlings of the season. It didn’t look good at first, then suddenly on Monday night, three large nests opened up and hundreds of little turtles started to emerge from the sand. When born, the hatchlings are only about 4 inches and weigh a couple of ounces, but will eventually grow to about 6.5 feet and weigh up to 1,400 pounds — making them the largest sea turtles in the world. Life is tough for the young hatchlings due to all the predators they have to avoid on their way to the ocean, and then, if successful, a whole new crop of them at sea. It is estimated that only 1 in a 1,000 hatchlings will survive to adulthood. If this little one makes it, he’ll either stay at sea for the next 80 or so years if male, or return to the beaches in 10 to 15 years to lay eggs if a female. Much more on these guys in upcoming posts.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/400th of a second, 3 stop graduated neutral density filter