Leatherback turtle lays eggs at Phang Nga national park | The Nation
This particular turtle has been named "Mae Lampi”, derived from the full name of the national park — Khao Lampi - Hat Thai Mueang — in Phang Nga province.
Sea turtles spend only a small part of their lives on land, specifically during the egg-laying process. Once they hatch, they make their way to the sea and rarely return to land.
Only the mother turtle returns to lay eggs. The heavyweight leatherback turtle is the largest of the species, weighing up to 500 kilograms.
Mae Lampi, although not the largest, still weighs over 200 kilograms. Because of her weight, moving on land is not an easy task for her. Despite her size, the leatherback turtle is the fastest swimming reptile, reaching speeds of up to 35 km/h. Unlike land turtles, sea turtles have flipper-like limbs, with front flippers serving as paddles for propulsion and rear flippers for steering. They primarily use their powerful front flippers to dig nests for laying eggs.
To avoid disturbing Mae Lampi, no images have been taken of the actual egg-laying process. A single nesting can involve laying 3-4 eggs at a time, but this time, she laid 78 eggs in one nesting session.
As of now, there are three leatherback mother turtles and six nests in total. If fortunate, there might be more than 10 nests this year, surpassing the numbers of the past 2-3 years.
