Attend a nesting turtles: where, how?
Many sea turtles - green turtles, and fewer, hawksbill turtles - inhabiting the lagoon of Mayotte. Observed under water - without ever touching and standing at a distance - is exhilarating, to see them respond, with some very precise rules, is moving.
Mayotte is with Mohéli, one of the Indian Ocean where it is really common and therefore easy to see turtles laying eggs. Several beaches are the scene of this act of procreation (including beaches Gwell-or-Gouel Boundrouni and south of Bouéni) but two are particularly prized turtles: the two beaches Moya on Petite-Terre and , south of Grande-Terre, the main beach Saziley (in the hollow of the bundle that forms the peninsula Saziley where is the Maison du Conservatoire du littoral).
Almost every night of the year, the turtles come to spawn. With a peak from March to June, the month of May reaching records. So by going there, you are almost sure to attend one - or more eggs. The figures speak for themselves: during the years 2008, 2168 eggs for the three tracks were recorded by the guards of the Marine Turtle Observatory (OTM). Each turtle lays about a hundred eggs per spawning (depending on the size of the female). Every 2 to 5 years (generally 3 years), the female will return every 10 to 15 days during 2 to 4 months perform a laying on the beach where she herself was born.
A specific example: between 20h and 23h in the night of 4 March 2009, 13 turtles are mounted on the beach II Moya, 11 eggs, 2 turned back toward the ocean could not find the right place to dig their cavity .
Of the three beaches, guards and leaders are there to guide you, you explain. Tell them your
presence and quietly wait for them to come pick you up. The adventure begins! Allow about 3 hours for the tracking and observation of different phases (see below) of lay.
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