Sri Lanka: Sea Turtle Conservation Station
The entire southern coast of the island of Sri Lanka is one large turtle hatching beach – 5 species of turtles come here to lay eggs every night throughout the year. Green and Olive Ridley turtles are the most common visitors while Hawksbill, Loggerhead, and Leatherback are more rare. Along the coast, there are several turtle hatcheries (Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project is the best) that collect the eggs daily and re-bury them in the sand in a protected environment away from people and various land and air predators. Once the eggs hatch, the baby turtles are kept for 1 day in a pool supposedly so that their belly button wounds heel. The next night the babies are released into the ocean. They also separate the turtles that are unlikely to survive in the wild – with various birth defects and albinos – and those just live at the hatchery. Overall, it’s a positive initiative helping the turtle population, with only problem that this may be affecting their genetic memory of being born on a particular spot on a particular beach – they may or may not be able to come back there when adults. But seeing and holding baby turtles – it’s just wow!!
