Park Chief Haritchai Rittichuay reported that a local resident by the name of Ong-ard Sairaya discovered turtle tracks on the beach around 6:30am this morning and immediately informed officers.
The tracks measured 1.82 metres across and were about 30 metres away from the highest wave mark.
“Having arrived the beach, officers spent about two hours carefully digging the sand out along the tracks and discovered the turtle nest,” Chief Haritchai explained.
“We had to dig around 76cm until they found the eggs, however we do not know how many eggs there are, as we did not move them. Officials constructed a fence around the nest and we now have officers in place to constantly watch over the nest,” Chief Haritchai said.
“Officers will keep watch over the nest until the eggs hatch. That will take about 55-60 days,” Chief Haritchai added.
He also explained that the turtle egg laying season is normally from October to March every year, and this turtle mother is likely to lay its eggs again, so officers will deployed to patrol the beach in due course.
The most recent nest discovered on Aug 9, which had a total 155 eggs, was also at Khao Lampi – Hat Thai Mueang National Park. The eggs were moved to another location close to the National Park office, approximately 3 kilometers away, to keep them away and safe from the heavy weather conditions brought on by the southwest monsoon.