Driven by ancient impulses, three of the world’s seven types of sea turtles come to nest on the beaches of the south-east of Dominica. From Late March to October, join our expeditions to Rosalie beach and be a part of a select few who may witness a remarkable event. The largest of them, giant 1000+lbs endangered leatherback sea turtles return to the home of their birth 25 to 30 years older to lay their eggs. Between May and August, sea turtles come up to nest almost every night and it may be great to try to pick a full moon night.

From ALDive Centre, it is about a 1hr. drive across the island to Rosalie beach, soon to be surrounded by the Rosalie Bay Resort. The beach itself is public so it is still ok to get in there. The Rosalie Sea Turtle Initiative (RoSTI) is a project that seeks to conserve Dominica's sea turtle population of Hawksbill, Leatherback and Green turtles. Working closely with communities island-wide, RoSTI organizes educational activities, research and conservation. Sea Turtle watching tours are held in Rosalie and La Plaine. The RoSTI beach patrollers play an integral role in the protection of these animals and have special access to the beach. No expedition is conducted without one of them. ALDive having certified them in CPR/First Aid have developed a special relationship with the RoSTI staff.

We meet up with one of the RoSTI beach patrollers who escort you as you walk on the beach under the stars where you may see a sea turtle.

At the critical moment when it reaches the shore and starts digging the hole, a turtle is easily distracted, guides from RoSTI, make sure no curious people, like us and the rest of the crowd, come too close. Some nights as many as ten or twenty turtles come to nest but they need dry sand to be able to dig the hole for the eggs so, turtles can came ashore, not find that, and decide to go back without nesting.

Once the turtle starts laying her eggs, she goes into a kind of "trance", and will not stop the process until the eggs have been laid and the nest is completely covered.

During the nesting “trance” RoSTI beach patrollers may allow you to pet and take a few photos. Camera flashes go off constantly at this time.

They also remove the eggs for their protection and transplant them to more secure nests.

They measure and tag any turtle that has not been tagged

Even if the moon is out flashlights are used to check the face and the eyes closely,
Once the eggs are safe in the hole (or so she thinks) then the covering up process begins. Finally, nest covering is completed, and the very, very tired turtle crawls back to the ocean. RoSTI guides move on along the beach, in search for more turtles that may need some protection.

In Dominica, as in many other countries where the giant turtles nest, they have been hunted for their shell, their meat and their eggs. The belief that eating turtle eggs is good aphrodisiac is of course nothing but a belief, and completely incorrect. The work done by RoSTI have highly risen the awareness of the importance of protecting the sea turtles, and the killing has gradually diminished, though far from completely. There is no law in Dominica preventing people from eating turlte meat, the law says that when a turtle is on the beach it is in its nesting activity and must not be touched.

If they make it through the first critical years, a sea turtle lives for an average of 50 to 70 years, but it takes at least 30 years before they can lay any eggs. By clicking on the links below you can actually track two of the lady turtles who made it to Rosalie beach.

We also go back to see the hatchlings. If we are lucky we may witness dozens of tiny hatchlings scurrying for the safety of the Atlantic Ocean. We are left to wonder that in 30 years time or so, how many of them will make it back again.

Some more facts: The Leatherback turtle, the Hawksbill and the Green Turtle come to nest at Dominica’s beaches. The Leatherback is by far the largest of all sea turtles, and may reach a length of about 8 feet (2.4 meters), and weigh nearly half a ton while nesting. They have a span of nearly 10 feet (3 meters) from the tip of one front flipper to the tip of the other, and can dive to nearly 4.000 feet in a single dive.

Tours depart any night in the season and include:
• Hrs. 7pm-12am and 9pm-2am
• Transportation to and from Rosalie
• Tea, non-alcoholic beverages and snacks
• Flashlights
• US$35.00pp, kids under 10 free
• Min. 4 adults

http://www.marinecreatures.com/

http://www.aber.ac.uk/biology/prospective/seaturtles.htm