Mr. Vinh Le (content creator, living in Ho Chi Minh City) spent 7 days volunteering to conserve sea turtles at Hon Cau (in Con Dao National Park, Ba Ria - Vung Tau). This is a program organized annually by Con Dao National Park and the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
Hon Cau seen from above
Previously, Mr. Vinh participated in sea turtle conservation in many coastal areas across the country such as: Ninh Thuan, Cu Lao Cau (Binh Thuan), Bay Canh (Con Dao) and Bai Duong (Con Dao).
According to him, each place has its own interesting things to experience, but the important thing is to be able to contribute a small effort to the conservation of this rare species.
“I used to go scuba diving in Bali (Indonesia) and saw many sea turtles there. I wondered when I would see sea turtles in Vietnam and started to learn about this sea turtle conservation program.
When reading information such as only 1/1000 baby turtles can survive to adulthood and there are many reasons why sea turtles are gradually disappearing in the world... I want to spend more time and effort to contribute a small part to sea turtle conservation work," he said.
Hon Cau is the second most attractive place for sea turtles to lay eggs in Con Dao, after Hon Bay Canh.
According to their habits, mother turtles usually come ashore to lay eggs in the evening, when the tide is high. This is also the time when volunteers start their duty, depending on the tide. If the tide is late, they can start their work from midnight to dawn.
“At Hon Cau, volunteers take turns to be on duty, watching for turtles laying eggs. Some days I am on duty from 11pm, some days from 2am…”, Vinh added.
From April to November every year is the time when sea turtles come to the beaches and islands in Con Dao National Park to nest and lay eggs. During the peak season, some beaches in Bay Canh and Hon Tre Lon recorded 20 mother turtles coming to nest each night.
On average, a mother turtle lays about 80 eggs, but there are also cases of laying more than 200 eggs in Con Dao.
To lay eggs, the mother turtle must go through the steps of finding a place, digging a nest, laying eggs, and covering the nest to erase all traces.
They will choose an area of fine sand and use their front legs to level and lower it, then use their hind legs to dig a hole about 50-70cm deep and about 20cm wide and start laying eggs. The process from when the sea turtle comes ashore until it finishes digging the nest to lay eggs takes about 1 hour.
The mother turtle lays her eggs in batches, sometimes having to stop to rest. After that, it takes another 20-35 minutes to fill and camouflage the hole, ensuring the safety of the eggs. After completing the breeding process, the mother turtle returns to the sea and never visits the nest again.
When turtles come ashore to lay eggs, volunteers like Vinh must go to the beach early, gently move on the sand, follow the turtle footprints to determine the location of the mother turtle. Then observe to see what stage of the birthing process the mother turtle is in.
After the turtles lay eggs, volunteers will bring the eggs back to the incubation area to protect them from attacks by humans or other animals.
The sea turtle hatching area is divided into two areas with or without shells to balance the ratio of male and female turtles. The temperature around the nest determines the turtle's sex. Typically, temperatures hotter than 29 degrees Celsius increase the ratio of female turtles.
“One night, 40 mother turtles came ashore to lay eggs. My group’s record was moving 31 nests in one night,” Vinh said.
On average, after about 45-60 days, the turtle eggs will hatch. At that time, volunteers will release the baby turtles back into the sea. The release time is usually from about 6am to 8am, when the sun is not yet high.
The release location is about 2-3m from the edge of the sea so that the turtles can crawl back to the sea. This is the path that the baby turtles will remember so that more than 20 years later, when they reach adulthood and it is breeding season, the female turtles will return here to lay eggs.
A mother turtle slowly crawls back to the sea after laying eggs in the early morning.
In addition to tasks related to sea turtle conservation such as monitoring mother turtles laying eggs, moving eggs, releasing baby turtles back to the sea, the volunteer group is also responsible for guiding tourists who have registered to watch turtles lay eggs.
They also take advantage of their time to rest and experience some relaxing outdoor activities such as swimming, diving to see corals...
“Becoming a sea turtle conservation volunteer, I have many new relationships, escaped my comfort zone to live in places that are less fortunate than my home, and from there I understand the hardships of the forest rangers here.
In addition, I also enjoy the wild beauty of the islands and beautiful beaches," Vinh said.
The beautiful natural scenery in Hon Cau makes any visitor who comes here to experience it feel so happy that they "don't want to go home".
The young man from Ho Chi Minh City commented that the natural scenery in Hon Cau is very beautiful, the most impressive is the straight coconut forest that is over 100 years old.
“In particular, the coconuts here have a mineral taste, and when you drink them, you feel a bit of gas, so the flavor is really different from coconuts from other places,” he added.
Mr. Vinh and sea turtle conservation volunteers in Hon Cau take advantage of their free time to go swimming, diving to see coral...
According to his experience, the best time to visit Hon Cau in particular and Con Dao in general is from March to October every year. At this time, the sea is calm and the weather is nice.
However, visitors should check the weather forecast before the trip, check the schedule of canoes or boats going to the island. If you come here between July and October - the sea turtle breeding season, visitors can join tours to experience watching sea turtles lay eggs and release baby turtles into the sea.
If you have the opportunity to visit Hon Cau, visitors should also remember to prepare life jackets, rent diving goggles (can be rented at the National Park Center when applying for a permit), mosquito and insect repellent, etc. At the same time, you should have a National Park tour guide or a local person accompany you to ensure maximum safety.
Photo: Vinh Gau – Vietnamnet.vn
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khach-toi-con-dao-bao-ton-rua-bien-kham-pha-thien-duong-vui-khong-muon-ve-2308157.html
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