Leatherback sea turtle returns to the ocean after laying 111 eggs

2020-01-15 3

This is the moment a giant leatherback sea turtle waddles back into the ocean after laying its eggs.

Beachgoers were amazed when they saw the endangered marine creature on the Nai Thon Beach in Phuket, southern Thailand on October 1.

Conservationists arrived to take care of the eggs. Officials from Sirinat National Park and the Phuket Marine Biological Centre later examined the nest and found 111 eggs - with 92 healthy and 19 infertile.

They moved the eggs to the safer place while they wait for them to hatch.

Thanapong Kuenoon, from the Phuket Marine National Park, said: "Everybody was excited by the eggs because it suggests the beach's ecology is good.

"However, we moved the eggs to the safer place to guard them because we worried they could be stolen or damaged.''

Conservationist Kongkiat Kittiwattwong said the turtle weighed about 300 kilograms and was the first sea turtle to breed this year on the island.

The eggs will hatch in around 60 days, at which point the baby turtles will scamper into the sea to begin their life journey through the ocean.

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