31 Oct 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 5 - Olive Ridley Turtle

One of my favourite wildlife groups are Sea Turtles. Seeing any Sea Turtle is special and my highlight of the crossing from the Tanimbar Islands to Babar Island was when I picked up a Sea Turtle drifting past on the surface & close to the starboard side. It was only my second Olive Ridley Turtle, after one I saw on the Atlantic Odyssey on the crossing between Ascension Island and the Cape Verde Islands, on 28 Apr 18.

Olive Ridley Turtles are relatively small rounded Sea Turtles which only grow to about eighty cm in length, compared to the slightly larger Hawksbill Turtles, Green and Loggerhead Turtles which grown to just over a metre and Leatherbacks than can grown to close to two metres. The best ways to identify Sea Turtles is often to photograph the top of the head and shell, as the head & shell segments are generally distinctive. Sadly, this wasn't possible in this case, but Olive Ridley Turtles have distinctive face markings and dull olive-green shells, which is how this Sea Turtle was identified.

Olive Ridley Turtle: This was my only photo showning the side of the face. Olive Ridley Turtles have a relatively plain side of the face, darker on the upper side and paler below and a dark eye patch, whereas most of the other Sea Turtles in range have brighter blotchy faces caused by each dark segment being edged by pale colouration. Leatherback Turtles have pale spots on a dark side to the face

Olive Ridley Turtle: Showing a flipper

Olive Ridley Turtle: This photo confirms the dull olive colouration of the body shell

Although it didn't dive as it passed us, it did keep its head underwater for most of the time we saw it. All to quickly we were passed it.

6 Dec 18 - Sea Turtle Index

This Blog Post is an Index to all the Blog Posts covering my Sea Turtle sightings. There are links to the Posts against each entry below. A Sea Turtle Index is also shown on the Pages bar underneath the Blog Header photo. Alternatively, you can click on a particular species in the Keywords section on the right side of the Blog to show all Posts for the selected species. Finally, selecting the Sea Turtles Keyword to show all Sea Turtle Posts. I will continue to add to the photos and links as I write new Sea Turtle Blogs.

Green Turtle: Two inquisitive Green Turtles close to the reef edge at Tenararo, French Polynesia (Copyright Elliot of the Braveheart crew) (13 Nov 14)

Green Turtle: Ascension Island (24 Apr 18)

Leatherback Turtle: At sea between St Helena and Ascension Island (22 Apr 18)

Olive Ridley Turtle: At sea between Ascension Island and Cape Verde (28 Apr 18)

Loggerhead Turtle: At sea between Ascension Island and Cape Verde (28 Apr 18)

Loggerhead Turtle: At sea between Ascension Island and Cape Verde (29 Apr 18)

Loggerhead Turtle: At sea between Madeira and Portugal (6 May 18)

28 Apr 18 - Atlantic Odyssey - Day Thirty: Two More Turtle Species

Another early morning start on the Plancius wondering what would be seen during the day. The early morning Clymene Dolphins & Pantropical Spotted Dolphins had got things off to a good start. It was another hot & sunny day. With only a couple of days before we reached the Cape Verde Islands, there was anticipation of an increase in Seabirds as we were now closer to Cape Verde, than Ascension Island. However, we would be in deep water until we were very close to the islands. In the end, the day turned out to be similar to the previous day for Seabirds with a few Bulwer's Petrels, Cory's Shearwaters, Red-footed Boobies, Long-tailed Skuas & Arctic Terns. Around half the Seabirds seen were Leach's Storm-petrels. The highlight was my only Pomarine Skua of the Odyssey. There was also a Storm-petrel sp. that I didn't get to photograph. It could have been a Band-rumped Storm-petrel or my first Cape Verde Storm-petrel. Cape Verde Storm-petrels have been recently split off from Band-rumped Storm-petrel & without photos, it would have been tricky to be sure.

Three more of the good company from the Odyssey: Chris Gladwin, Chris Keher & Mark Newsome

With the Birding being uninspiring again, it was down to the sea to provide the main interest to keep us on the decks. Fortunately, the sea came up trumps with Sea Turtles. The Sea Turtles were tricky to get onto as they are so low in the water that they needed to be much closer than a hundred metres to stand a chance of seeing them. But at that distance, when they realised they were right next to the Plancius, their immediate thought was to dive & try & get away from us. Therefore, even when we were lucky to see a Sea Turtle it was generally diving by the time it was level with the bridge wings. You also needed to be close to the finder, as there wasn't time to move closer to an observer, as they were already thinking of diving as they were spotted. We saw two Loggerhead Turtles & an Olive Ridley Turtle in the morning. Fortunately, I managed to see & photograph both species. Just getting to see a Sea Turtle was tough, given the brevity of views but we generally needed to get photos to confirm the identification. A useful identification chart can be downloaded from the Sea Turtle.org website.

Loggerhead Turtle: The shell is not circular, but is longer than it is wide. They have five or 6 costal scutes (which are the segments along the side of the upper shell). I seem to remember Marijke saying that Loggerhead Turtles were very prone to having Barnacle encrustaceans on their shells

Loggerhead Turtle: The first coastal scute touches the nuchal scute (which is the narrow segment on the shell immediately behind the head). Unfortunately, my photos do not show either of the key features associated with the scutes, but other people managed to get better photos allowing Marijke to confirm the identification of both Turtle species seen

Olive Ridley Turtle: This was the smallest Sea Turtle we saw & had this distinctive shaped shell which was far more rounded than the other Sea Turtles we saw. The shape was still noticeable even when it was underwater

Olive Ridley Turtle: The only other Sea Turtle with a similar shell shape is Kemp's Ridley Turtle, but that is restricted to the Gulf of Mexico & Atlantic coast of the US. Olive Ridley Turtles occur in the Pacific and Indian Oceans & South Atlantic (& just into the North Atlantic as we crossed the Equator the previous day)

Olive Ridley Turtle: It was great to see it pop its head out of the water for a breather. They have six or more costal scutes

Olive Ridley Turtle

Olive Ridley Turtle: Having got its breath, it was quickly off

With just seven species of Sea Turtles in the world, we had managed to see four species on the Atlantic Odyssey & today's species were both Ticks. There was a realistic chance of seeing a Hawksbill Turtle on either the Odyssey or the follow-on West African Pelagic. However, we were unlucky not to see one. But we had seen more Sea Turtles species than any of the previous Odyssey trips, so I can't complain too much about not seeing a Hawksbill Turtle.

Marine rubbish: Fishing float

Marine rubbish: Oil barrel

It was depressing that we were still two days sailing before we reached the Cape Verde Islands & we hadn't seen any ships since we left Ascension Island two days earlier. But even this far out in the Atlantic, we still encountered evidence of human rubbish.