Turtle Season

5/15/2013

Situated along the extreme north-east coastline of South Africa in the Maputaland Coastal Forest Reserve, the Rocktail Bay area hosts an annual spectacle that has remained unchanged for thousands of years. Every summer (from October to March) hundreds of Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles complete their breeding cycle and emerge from the Indian Ocean to lay their eggs on this stretch of coastline - most returning to the specific beach on which they themselves hatched!

Although we are near the end of 2012-13's official 'turtle season' there were some exciting sightings in February, most notably about 60 leatherback and 100 loggerhead hatchlings emerging from their nests and making their way to the ocean.

Concurrent with the end of turtle season was the launch of George Hughes's book about the ocean behemoths entitled Between the Tides. The book represents Hughes's lifelong dedication to the research and understanding and study of sea turtles. The book is available from Jacana Publishers.