Friday, March 26, 2021
The leatherback turtle inhabits temperate tropical, subtropical and sub-arctic waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Ecuador found 90 leatherback turtle eggs, an endangered species, in a reserve in the Esmeraldas province, on the border with Colombia, the Environment Ministry reported on Thursday.
In the Galera San Francisco marine reserve “90 eggs were found inside the fourth leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nest registered during the 2020-2021 nesting season,” the ministry said in a statement.
Other nests were reported in the province of Manabí (southwest), where around 70 specimens of this marine turtle have been born since January, which is classified as vulnerable and in the eastern Pacific are in critical danger of disappearing.
The eggs were found by park rangers, who surrounded the nest and placed a temperature monitor to monitor their evolution.
“It is extremely important to identify this vulnerable species of marine fauna, especially because their nesting is not frequent in our equatorial coastal profile,” said Tatiana Caicedo, park ranger of the Galera San Francisco Marine Reserve, according to statements released by the Ministry of the Environment. .
The Galera San Francisco marine reserve harbors a biological wealth comparable to that of the Galapagos, a Natural Heritage of Humanity, according to the registry of protected areas of the country.
The leatherback turtle inhabits temperate tropical, subtropical and sub-arctic waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. This species can measure up to three meters and weigh up to a ton.
In 2015 and 2017 Ecuador reported the discovery of leatherback nests, but the eggs did not hatch.
Read the original coverage from La Opinion (CO) at https://www.laopinion.com.co/zona-verde/ecuador-halla-90-huevos-de-tortuga-laud-una-especie-en-peligro-critico
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