Sea Turtle Nesting

We witnessed something INCREDIBLE on vacation!  I woke up one morning and looked off of our balcony and saw what I thought looked like sea turtle tracks on the sandy beach.  I spoke with 2 older ladies that morning, and they confirmed my hunch.  Apparently, it was nesting season.  I told Shawn and the kids that we were going out to look for turtles that night.  They were skeptical we would find any.  We were out on the beach for maybe 5 minutes when we spotted a huge 100 pound sea turtle come up out of the water and lay her eggs in a nest she dug.  Then we watched her cover them up and head back into the water.  While we watched her lay her eggs we happened to see 2 baby sea turtles that had just hatched from their eggs head to the water.  And, if it couldn’t have felt any more magical than that, Cody and I looked out towards the ocean and saw a shooting star!!!  We ended up seeing 3 other sea turtles laying eggs, one right by the steps where we were staying.  We also saw about 6 or 8 other turtles come up out of the water, walk up the beach a bit, then turn around and go back into the water without ever nesting.  It was crazy!  I took video of it all.  I had trouble sleeping that night because my mind was racing over all that we had witnessed.  It was kind of eerie how those 100 pound sea turtles all started emerging from the waters after dark.  It was amazing how the baby sea turtles knew to head towards the water and even where the water was.  And that is just a speck of what lurks below the ocean!  God is a God of order, and His creation is AMAZING!

Also, we mustn’t forget about the older local gentleman who joined us for a little while that evening. He was clothed in a long beach towel which had a very high slit, and it became apparent that he did not have anything on under that towel.  At one point, he took our flashlight and laid down on the ground to observe the turtle closer.  When he tried to stand, he took a little tumble, and we all joked later that we were all just praying his towel stayed secure!  But, seriously, we learned that the locals are passionate about their sea turtles.  I am so thankful that we ventured out on the beach that evening!