AfroChic Welcomes Baby Turtles

Scrambling down to the surf from a nest in the sand at AfroChic Diani Beach, 113 baby turtles came into the world in early April.

Staff and guests had waited patiently since February 10th when several nests were placed in the Elewana beach resort’s turtle hatchery. Normal incubation time is approximately two months, which means the baby turtles arrived almost exactly when expected.

Since February, it’s been fairly hot along the south Kenya coast, which means more females. The sex of a turtle is determined by the temperature of the nest. In most cases, eggs from warmer nests hatch as all females. Having more female’s means more eggs will be laid in the future, hence a better chance of increasing the number of sea turtles in years to come.

Stay tuned for updates on the second nest and more about the work that Elewana, AfroChic and local environmental group Diani Turtle Watch are doing to save these endangered reptiles.

Meanwhile, check out this short video about the April hatching.

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