Turtle miss

 

We have read about turtles laying eggs in French Guyana on the internet and were excited to see this. Talking with some flat mates we decided to join them. We left at sunset, off to Montjoly beach. They showed us some pictures and videos from previous night and it was great! Traveling through the residential outskirts of Cayenne at that time was quite an experience: the areas were rather calm, not sleeping quite yet, and few people going for a jog. I did not really expect. As soon as we arrived at the beach we got our torches out. It was very dark and windy. We could hear the ocean and its waves breaking into the sand. Yet, we could not really see it at first. Once our eyes got used to the darkness, I managed to distinguish the sky, the clouds, the sand, the ocean and the lather. I took off my shoes, in a sort of freedom gesture. 

I realized almost immediately that crabs populate the beach, and the fear of stepping over one accompanied me all evening long. I forgot that they hide under the sand, totally or partially.

We strolled along the beach for roughly one hour, north-west. The wind was constantly hitting us from the ocean, on our right. With our torches we looked everywhere. As said, after one hour we had some sort of success. In fact, we were looking at the sea and I noticed a dark round thing between very close to the shore. A bit too close. It looked like a rock, but rather round. In the meantime, it was slowly disappearing back into the ocean. At that moment I realized that was a turtle. We tried to look for some traces in the sand: if it got out and laid the eggs, there must be some traces. There were no signs of the turtle getting out of the water. Most likely, it was about to exit the ocean but was bothered by our white lights, hence our presence, so it decided to go back. It is important to approach the turtles from behind, discretely and with a red light not to bother them and be able to enjoy the miracle. 

The turtle, may have gotten out in another area of the beach, either north or south. We sat down on the sand, torches out to see whether it would get out. It did not. On the other hand we had the chance to sit under an unpolluted sky and see the stars, among the clouds.  We needed this reconnection with nature. We decided to move along and go back to the car as it was starting to rain. On our way back we kept an eye on the ocean to spot the turtle but without success. By the time we got to the car we were completely wet, only on one side due to the rain and wind. Yet, we were not cold at all thanks to the warm temperature.

Despite the unsuccessful attempt, it was a great experience. We will try again: the beach is not far away. Hopefully we will be luckier the next time.

P.S. This post has not pictures as it took place during the night, and looking for turtles is best when minimizing the use of light. White light.