Sightseeing in Aruba: Turtle Hatching

Right now, if you plodded through the sand at the beach nearest to us, you’ll see a few fenced-off areas that appear to be randomly demarcated. But these fences indicate something special: where clutches and clutches of sea turtle eggs lay nestled beneath the sand. I’m not particularly sure exactly which species of sea turtle rests near our apartment, considering that four species are known to lay eggs in Aruba: the Leatherback, the Loggerhead, the Green Turtle, and the Hawksbill. Regardless, I was spurred to learn more about the infancy of these graceful aquatic creatures so close by.

Generally speaking, sea turtles hatch all year around based on when their eggs were laid. It typically takes anywhere spanning from 45 days to 70 days for the entire incubation process to take place, but the most common hatching period was in the summer, sometimes continuing into November and December. According to this informational sheet by ConserveTurtles.org, the amount of eggs laid in a clutch ranges from 110 eggs on average across all species, and the most being 200 eggs laid by the Hawksbill Sea Turtle. But only an estimate one in 1,000 of these adorable youngsters will manage to survive. Combining human interference like pollution, accidental destruction, and obstacles between the brood and the sea with natural and invasive predators, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

To this point, I’m incredibly glad that the Aruban government and well-meaning locals are demarcating turtle nests and criminalizing the disruption of them, especially when there’s so many ignorant tourists out there who may, knowingly or unknowingly, destroy the precious native ecosystem. Aruba’s beaches in particular do maintain a remarkable standard of cleanliness when it comes to eliminating plastic bags and other harmful trash–albeit this may have more to do with the aesthetics of the tourist industry rather than an interest in the environment.

Although our timing isn’t quite right for the summer, I hope we’ll be lucky enough to one day catch Aruba’s turtles hatching in action. I really think I’d struggle to not fight off any birds of prey trying to attack the poor turtle babies, though. I know, I know, it’s just the cycle of nature. *crying nonchalantly*