Monday, June 11, 2007

Turtle Hatching

Today's Plan:
Get you know what out of bed at 4:30 AM to be at the Grotto by 5AM. Dive for an hour plus and then head out for an early morning photo shoot wherever the light looks good. Then post photos on blog.

After a very uneventful dive - no turtles or anything else of note, I was off to find a location to shoot landscapes. I was prepared to come home and post some of those photos when this little guy showed up!



He (or she) and about a hundred of his friends. So now I can't post those location pictures but I can say I have witnessed my first live turtle hatching! Nothing else matters today, tomorrow or for at least the rest of the week for that matter! - you get what I mean. What an amazing thing to see. When we realized what was happening I set out with the camera trying franticly to get close up shots of these little guys. When it was all over I couldn't believe how fast it all happened and in the end how few quality shots I got. If they don't get hung up on anything these guys can really move, not much time to set up a shot that's for sure. Even when they hit the water all you see for a few moments is tiny heads randomly popping to the surface for a quick breath and then just like that it's over! I was not prepared for the speed of the event!


Here's a video Angelo did of the hatching he witnessed!

8 comments:

Angelo Villagomez said...

Amazing!

Angelo Villagomez said...

You should contact Joe Ruak at DFW to let him know where the nest was.

Bon said...

That is so unbelievably awesome! I'm so jealous, before I die (of principalship) I want to see baby turtles swim away.

Harry Blalock said...

I'm totally jealous too Mike! How lucky to stumble upon the little guys all scurrying down to the water. Thanks for getting some pictures of it for the rest of us!

Deece said...

Awsome!!

Bev said...

thats so cool mike! I loved seeing the hatchlings as well.

Brad Ruszala said...

Hi Mike,
If you're online drop me a line.
Brad

bradinthesand96950@yahoo.com

CNMI Blogger said...

Mike:
Let's get together soon and talk about our film project. These pictures are amazing!