25.05.2016 – Baby time
May 31, 2016
28.05.2016 – Salty
June 2, 2016
After 13 years, finally a Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) was sighted by guests and crew on board our vessel Ribeira Brava. It is one of the largest living reptiles in the world. There is still a lot to be discovered about the largest and also the fastest sea turtle on earth. This species reaches speeds almost up to 3 m/s with their 2,5 m frontal fins and can dive down to 1000 m when hunting, mainly on jellyfish. This species remain great part of their lives in cold regions where their preys are more abundant. Like all existing sea turtles, only the females after being sexual mature, drag their colossal body weight thru the sand in order to deposit their eggs. This is an extreme effort for this reptile and takes several hours, during this time this animals enters a kind of “trance”, this occurs normally at night, until all eggs are deposit in the sand. Fortunately most of the the important nesting beaches are protected these days. A special conservation program protects this species during this time, specific regulations have been implemented protecting the eggs from “poaching”. Also in the tourism industry there have been set some boundaries remembering everyone the importance of good touristic practises.
by Daniel Jardim
Todays sightings:
Ribeira Brava:
15.00: no marine mammal sighting
