{"id":4427,"date":"2011-07-29T10:38:32","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T18:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mlmlblog.wordpress.com\/?p=4427"},"modified":"2011-07-29T10:38:32","modified_gmt":"2011-07-29T18:38:32","slug":"at-the-business-end-of-a-sea-turtle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlml.sjsu.edu\/student-life\/2011\/07\/29\/at-the-business-end-of-a-sea-turtle\/","title":{"rendered":"At the Business End of a Sea Turtle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Catcher in the sand: Deasy Lontoh counts a leatherback sea turtle's eggs while she lays them on a beach in Indonesia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Deasy Lontoh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Deasy Lontoh, Vertebrate Ecology Lab<\/p>\n

Greetings from Papua! I\u2019m back to study leatherback sea turtle reproduction for my thesis, this time for three and a half months. There are no hatcheries this year so I have to count turtle eggs as they are dropped into the nest while the females are laying.<\/p>\n

When a female leatherback digs her nest, I dig a body pit for myself directly behind her. \u00a0My body pit must be deep enough so I can comfortably place my hands underneath the female\u2019s cloaca throughout the laying process. I tally the number of yolked and yolkless eggs in my head, and pass some eggs to a partner who measures and weighs them.<\/p>\n

The eggs have to be returned into the nest before the female covers her nest, so we work very efficiently. Oftentimes the female drops more than one yolked egg at a time. Typically she drops the yolkless eggs at the end of the laying process, but sometimes she drops them at the same time as the yolked eggs. To keep the egg counts straight, my partner and I hardly talk to each other during sampling.\u00a0 It\u2019s definitely a handful!<\/p>\n

Read more about Deasy’s sea turtle work in Indonesia:<\/p>\n