"They know they have to come back home to breed. And they will continue to do that for the rest of their lives without changes unless, of course, you disturb them. They travel all the way from Australia to lay their eggs here.

These are the words of young Khamis Abdullah, as he briefed a stunned group of visiting local journalists recently at Madete Ranger of Saadani National Park.

He is the man assigned to keep watch over the 3000-strong population of turtles in the national park's beach, on the Bagamoyo side of the three-district-tied park.

Others are Pangani and Handeni in Tanga Region, while the Bagamoyo part is in Coast Region.

Khamis is also in the know of his charge. He covers a beach distance of eight kilometres daily to scout for hatcheries of the Green Turtle, a species commonly found on that part of the Indian Ocean.

He says the turtles, or sea tortoises, are marine-dwelling reptiles which, like their land cousins the land tortoises, are shielded from predators by a shell. With their little heads the turtles are a threatened species.

Its main enemies are the shark and man, according to Khamis, attributing the hunt on the reptile for its soup, skin and oil.

Research indicates that compared to other sea turtles, such as the leatherback and loggerhead, the green sea turtles have small heads.

They are believed to live up to 80 to over 100 years of age.

Beneath the water, green sea turtles can be quite graceful but not so much as on the land, so says a study of the reptile that can weigh up to 181 to 227 kilos!

The adult green sea turtles are the only ones that are vegetarians of all the marine turtles. They eat sea grasses and algae.

Nesting
The wonders of the green turtle begins at the first minute of its life above the sand, where it is normally hatched. A full minute is what it needs to record all its original surroundings, which will be kept in its life bank.

"When the female turtle reaches age 30, it comes to the exact place of her origin from wherever part of the world she is, digs the sand for a nest, and lays eggs numbering between 50 and 130 at a time.

After two weeks, she prepares another nest where she will fill it with eggs," the charmed Khamis told the amazed press corps.

Then she fills the hole or nest, of course this happens after she has dug another nest to fool predators," says Khamis, who has already spent four years, with more years ahead of him, at the Madete Turtle Ranger of the Saadani National Park.

As if it was easy to swallow, despite being extremely incredulous to journalists, well far behind in the history and lifestyles of the reptile, Turtle Officer Khamis added:

"Should you see the baby turtles staying very still on the sand, never touch them. They are recording the environment for future useful application."

"Essentially, the first minute means a lot to the newly hatched turtle, as the slightest disturbance, like taking it in your hands will make it lose all memory, and consequently make it breed anywhere else in the seas of the world where it would reach," Khamis stresses.

This is the reason for turtles which have reached Australia, or anywhere in the world, returning home to reproduce. The male green turtle reaches maturity at age 25 , against the female one at age 30.

Peculiarity
Planet Earth: Edge of the Sea, by Russell Sackett and the Editors of Time-Life Books, say that sea turtles are aptly named, for they spend most of their lives in the sea.

Males rarely ever go on land at all, and females only climb up on the shore to lay their eggs for just a few hours before returning to the sea.

But NationalGeographic.com says Eastern Pacific green sea turtles are different from the other sea turtles, because they sometimes leave the water to sun themselves on land. Most sea turtles do not leave the sea, unless it is nesting time.

The Humane Society of the United States says the green sea turtles can get big, but the largest one ever found weighed a whopping 871 pounds (395 kg)!

Zoological sources say a turtle's shell is more than just handy protection. The shell is such an intrinsic part of the reptile, its thoracic vertebrae and ribs are actually a part of the shell itself.

According to the Humane Society of the US, green turtles use their finely serrated jaws to tear off vegetation. They have special bacteria in their intestines which aid them in digesting this food.

It also says that because green sea turtles are herbivores, they are sometimes known as "cows of the ocean." This term should not be confused with sirenians, or "sea cows."

Sirenians are mammals that include dugong and manatees, but not green sea turtles. Green turtles are reptiles.

As the turtles attract foreign tourists with interest to know more about their lives, Khamis says there are about 3,000 green turtles which can be viewed easily at a sand bank hardly five kilometres away from the beach.

Boats to take local tourists, as well as foreigners, are available. A visit at the Wami estuary, where the wide lower course mixes the fresh river water with the salt sea water, are crocodiles and hippopotamuses, which the Saadani National Park authorities say offer a rare sight. The group did not reach there, but time will tell.
Source:Sunday Observer