The Journey Starts Here
Turtle Nesting in Tetiaroa
Witnessing a green turtle nesting is to observe one of nature’s most intimate rituals.
She emerges from the lagoon under cover of darkness, her shell glistening in the moonlight. Slowly, methodically, she drags herself onto the beach. Every movement is deliberate, every breath heavy. At the high tide line, just beyond the reach of the waves, she begins to dig.
Using her powerful hind flippers, she digs a hole in the sand, about 20 inches deep. The process is meticulous. When she is ready, she begins to lay her eggs: about 80 to 120 spherical eggs, each the size of a ping-pong ball.
Next comes camouflage. Using the same hind flippers, she covers the nest by packing down the sand. She flips sand around to confuse predators before finally returning to the sea.
The whole process takes about two hours. It is exhausting, vulnerable, and fascinating to watch.
The hatchlings’ race
Two months later, the beach is bustling again.
After incubating in the warm sand (their sex being determined by temperature, with warmer nests producing females and cooler nests producing males), the hatchlings begin to emerge. They dig upward in groups, bursting out of the sand at night when temperatures are cooler and predators are fewer.
What follows is one of nature’s most perilous journeys: a frantic race across the beach to the lagoon, and for those who make it, to the reef.
Their tiny fins propel them forward. Each hatchling weighs less than an ounce. Crabs wait in the shadows. Frigate birds circle overhead. In the lagoon, predatory fish and blacktip sharks gather.
Out of every 1,000 eggs laid, one hatchling will survive to reproductive age. That’s why every egg counts.
Guests who wish to participate are placed on a waiting list. If nature permits, they will be invited before dawn to watch the hatchlings launch onto the beach for their first big swim.