"This is very rare.” Marine scientists amazed to see enormous sea creature do this in broad daylight – it's usually only witnessed at night

Sea turtles usually nest in the middle of the night so the arrival of one pregnant momma during the daytime surprised everyone 

Sea turtle researchers in Indonesia were astonished when a female leatherback arrived on Buru Island to nest during the middle of the day. 

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“This is very rare,” says WWF-Indonesia’s marine biodiversity officer Naufal Dafa Athallah in the video which they shared on Instagram, adding that when the team spoke to some of local community, some of the locals in their sixties had never heard of this happening on their beach. 

Sea turtles usually nest at night so her midday arrival caught the experts off guard. They raced to the beach to measure and tag the turtle once she had finished laying her eggs. 

Collecting this data is all part of WWF’s attempts to protect these threatened reptiles in partnership with local communities. 

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“When WWF-Indonesia began working with communities on Buru Island in 2017, the future of leatherback turtles here was far from certain,” says Ranny R. Yuneni, Marine ETP Species Manager at WWF Indonesia. “Through years of community engagement, education and collaboration with local leaders and authorities, we have seen a remarkable shift in attitudes towards turtle conservation.” 

It was hot work measuring the turtle under the burning sun at 2pm but the team was able to collect the data while being mindful of the turtle’s wellbeing (community monitors are trained in how to collect data without disturbing or stressing the turtles). 

Their efforts to reduce poaching on the island seem to be working. “Today, the reduction in egg poaching (to almost 0%) and the commitment shown to protect sea turtles demonstrate what can be achieved through long-term collaboration between communities, local authorities and conservation partners,” adds Yuneni.

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Credit: © WWF-Indonesia, Ranny Yuneni