Sea Turtle Hatchery

Sea Turtle Farm & Hatchery (Koggala)

On New Years Day our way from Galle to Mirissa we stopped at a Sea Turtle hatchery. They rescue turtles which have been injured by fishing boats and their equipment or have swallowed plastic. The hatchery also collects turtle eggs which have been laid on beaches and which may be taken by local people for food - rebury them on the premises, hatch them and release them into the ocean

Five out of seven marine turtle species in the world occur in the waters around Sri Lanka

Olive Ridley Turtle - Lepidochelys olivacea.
Leatherback Turtle - Dermochelys coriacea.
Green Turtle - Chelonia mydas.
Hawksbill Turtle - Eretmochelys imbricata.
Loggerhead Turtle - Caretta caretta.

This Olive Ridley turtle lost its front leg after it was caught in a fishing net.

The names comes from it's olive green colour.

The Hawksbill turtle is named after it's bird shaped bill. It is very rare partly as its solitary and may find it hard to meet a mate. They live in shallow water. There are only around 20,000 nesting females in the world,

Sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach fairly close to the shore.

In order to protect them the sanctuary workers collect eggs from the beach and bury them in a within the sancutuary boundary. They also offer to pay locals to show then where the eggs have been laid as if not there is a high chance that they will be eaten given how poor people are especiaolloy during the Sri Lankan economic crisis .

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse