MEET MRS. TURTLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 158, 6 July 1935, Page 1 (Supplement)

MEET MRS. TURTLE.

BARRIER DOMESTICITY. , NESTS IN THE SAND. (By EDWARD SAMUEL.) Scientists and travellers concede that the Great Barrier Beef,, stretching in a chain of coral structures more than 1000 miles in length from just south of New Guinea to a little north of Bundaberg, along the Queensland coast, is one of the marvels of any age or country. It is interesting to take an imaginary journey there to meet Mrs. Turtle, for this is the handiest scot in the to study the habits of this curious, clumsy, but irresistibly fascinating animal. An introduction to the turtle world is alone worth a trip, to the Barrier.

You will not meet the male of the species; lie does not come ashore at all, so we can only introduce you to Mrs. Turtle. The domestic capacity of this lady has amazed and interested naturalists so much that representatives of scientific institutions have travelled thousands of miles to sit on their heels in the sand all night, while the surf of the Barrier boomed in their ears, and by the light of pocket torches they have watched Mrs. Turtle through every phase of her laying, at one sitting, of up to .200 white eggs like golf halls. As the twilight fades from the waters and islands of the Barrier, and the stars blaze out, numerous mottled green turtle backs are seen floating on the surface of the tide at various points. Presently one can see the movement of flippers and the wagging of a large snake-like head, as the turtle waddles awkwardly out of the water and heads straight up the packed sand for the softer ground above high-water mark. Preparing the Nest. Our lady friend is bulky and slow, travelling ponderously, as. she measures as much as 4ft from stem to stern and 3ft across the shell, and is huge underneath. She puffs and blows like a portly alderman during lier climb to higher ground, and in her march she leaves a track like an army tank in miniature. She toils on, swinging her head from side to side, searching for a suitable spot for her nest. . She is a comical sight as her tail bobs up and down behind and a sigh of distress frequently issues from her lips as the going becomes steeper where the beach rises to the trees. Having selected a suitable site, Mrs. Turtle takes a spell, looks about her like a careful housewife, and makes quite certain that the selected spot meets with her approval. She then goes to work and digs herself a nest in the sand with her flippers, quite heedless of scientists or spectators who have followed the excursion torch in hand. The lady works hard, now and again pausing and sighing, then to work again, sending the sand flying in all directions. When a hole has been . made large enough to take her carapace, Mrs, Turtle

[ commences the most delicate and amazing operation—that of digging with her back flippers a perfectly formed circular cavity 12in deep, as a depository for her eggs. The next step is final. She settles herself and lays one after another, just as if she were an egg factory, in one session from 100 to 200 eggs. This duty completed, the last egg in position, she covers them over with sand, smooths the surface with her flippers, pats it down firmly, makes a few indentations in thfe sand to camouflage it, and then without useless delay heads for the beach. She leaves the eggs and the tiny turtles that are to come frpm them to do their own worrying henceforth. She never sees them again. The Young Turtle. In a few weeks' time the hot sun hatches the eggs, and the babies work their way to the surface. If it is dark they instantly make for the sea. Many of them are picked up by birds before they reach the water, others are gobbled up by hungry fish as soon as they have taken their first plunge in the sea. The mortality is terrific, but Mrs. Green Turtle, if she survives until the next laying season, is ready to lay another 200 eggs. There are scores of her clan all eager to get to business at the one time on the one island, which explains the balance of live turtles on the Barrier. Mrs. Turtle is absolutely persistent once she has decided to lay. If she likes the look of the floor of your tent, she will insist on digging her nest, and only physical force will prevent her.