Making tracks

A new week. A new day. A new country. A new tour.
Today we're heading out overnight to Turtle Island by boat. It's less noisy, a little more smooth & it had a roof. And therein lies the problem. Design floor was that it captured the fumes of the twin outboards making the hour long trip north-west of Sandakan a little sickening.
The island tour is a set program they run everyday. Boats arrive between 10-11am. Give them the brief. Serve lunch at 12:30. Gather them back up at 18:30 for the education stuff, dinner then head out for the turtle parade. Which meant a lot of hours to sit on the beach & snorkel the shallow waters.
Sunset this close to the equator with nothing on the horizon made it a tad bland. But rules here are to be off the beach by 6pm for the incoming turtles meant we couldn't hang around for the hues that follow.
A quick education on turtles & what they are trying to do here within the sanctuary. It's great to see that the Philippines & Malaysia are trying to work together to save these gorgeous creatures. It's just unfortunate that they don't agree on the sales of unhatched eggs as a delicacy.
Over 10,000 people every year visit Seligan Island for the turtle conservation experience.

Tonight's Turtle
81 green turtle eggs
1x1m mother turtle shell
70-75cm deep nest for her eggs.
The temp of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings - hence some parts of the holding pen are kept in shade.
4*F determines male from female.
Ranger gently adds sand & mesh to protect the eggs from predators.
Hatchlings surfacing outside the nest are known as escapees (aka naughty) & are their own count as can't identify which nest they are from
So far 328 eggs collected this year.
63-67 days until hatchlings surface.
Use surface sand to cover the eggs as sun sterilisers the sand to protect the eggs.
First hatchling heads for the top, if too hot he waits until cooler. The others wait in line until safe to surface. Natural instinct to head for water. Too much sun bakes a turtle as its shell is a heat conductor.
It's known that not all hatchlings will make it. It's a system of teamwork & sacrifice for the greater good of the 'group'.
Magnetic force in volcanic rock on ocean floor used for navigation.

Unfortunately we had people who seemed to suffer from FOMO & just couldn't be present & understand their impact on the turtle. Complaining it was too dark to take a photo or that their incessant talking risked causing the turtle to return to the water without completing its task didn't seem to register. I doubt that reflection was going to be a part of their experience.

An ice-cream before bed.