The first known turtle to hatch on Koh Racha in 10 years broke through its shell at 2am this morning, raising hopes of a return of turtles to the surrounding islands.
The hatching on Koh Racha , south of Phuket, was first reported by members of the Healthy Reefs Line group, who were at the beach to witness the event.
“The first turtle from the eggs arrived at 2am today – 57 days after the nest was found,” they posted.
The nest was discovered after resort staff on Racha Yai found large flipper tracks on the sand on July 14.
Officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) later moved the nest to safe location on the island where it would not be disturbed by humans.
The nest contained 94 eggs in total, but seven were already broken when resort staff discovered it. “We moved the remaining 87 eggs to a safe place on the island. The mother was not found; we believe it was a big turtle,” Hirun Kanghae, Acting Chief of the Marine Endangered Species Unit (MESU) at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), explained at the time.
Hirun confirmed this morning that the hatchling is a green turtle.
“The rest of the turtles will hatch in the next three days,” Hirun said.
“The DMCR will take them into care after they hatch, and after they have grown we will release them back into the ocean,” he added.
Story: The Phuket News
