Barbados TravelAdvisor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSp-iRdeP7k

Barbados (Caribe): a Hawksbill sea turtle during the morning covering the nest at Speightstown.

Another great find, Sue. Keep 'em coming - you're on a roll

Excellent video - thanks Sue

sue
when we get there in august have the turtles done nesting in the sand, and how long are the young in the sand.
regards carl and gail

Turtles take about two months to hatch and they leave the nest for the water immediately.

They seem to nest between about May & July maybe depending on type, we had never seem them hatch before as we normally visit in Dec-Jan time, but last time it was July & we were always seeing them.

dam we are their in the last week in august and will miss it, are well never mind will have to go again to see them , its a hard life if you don't weaken.

thanks all you guys for reply
regards
carl and gail

C&G - they were hatching when we were at Crystal Cove at the end of sept - we went out and missed it
So although you will have missed the nesting - you might be in with a chance of seeing them hatch and go into the sea

The 6 month nesting season of the hawksbill is longer than that of other sea turtles. Nesting occurs between July and October and courtship and mating begin somewhat earlier. Nesting in the Caribbean is principally nocturnal, although rare daytime nesting does occur.

Nesting behaviour follows a general sequence of that of other species of sea turtles: emergence from the sea, site selection, site clearing and pit construction, egg chamber construction, egg laying, filling in the egg chamber, disguising the nest site, and returning to sea. The entire process takes about 1 to 3 hours.

Hawksbills nest on average 4.5 times a season and intervals of about 14 days. Hawksbills have a strong site fidelity to specific nesting beach areas and are capable of returning to the same place season after season. Clutch size is correlated to female carapace length. In Florida and the US Caribbean, clutch size is about 140 eggs. Eggs are about 40 mm in diameter and take about 60 days to hatch. Sex determination is likely temperature-dependent as in other sea turtles and many reptiles, but data is limited.

thanks for that it looks like i will be able to see at least somethng going on out there, can anyone point me in the right direction as to view these great reptiles,

regard
carl and gail

Super video Sue W.!!

If you click on the following link and then scroll down you will see the 'Hatching Release programme' information. http://www.barbadosseaturtles.org/outreach.html

If you want to see turtles in the sea you can usually see them swimming in the shallows in places such as Paynes Bay (or of course you can go on an organised trip).

Mrs. BB.

just signed up for the turtle release programme, hope i get a call not bothered what time of night it is, it would be great to help just to know that there is a turtle swimming in the sea because of us,

That's good news. Hope you get to see the turtles.

Mrs. BB.

Last evening from my deck I watched as a turtle poked its head out of the water several times looking for a spot to come ashore to nest. The only problem is that thanks to the groins at St. Peter's Bay Villas and the prolonged swell activity last month there isn't a sandy stretch wide enough to support turtle nesting where I am located anymore.