Visiting Amarasena Turtle Hatchery in Kosgoda
The Colombo Galle main road is a delight, with palm, banana, and other trees lining both sides. I must have spent the majority of the journey peeping out the car window, to get enough of the gentle, cool ocean breeze on my face. Today, I was travelling to another interesting place with the Sri Lanka Tourism Board. We were visiting the Amarasena Turtle Hatchery as part of the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project to thank the volunteers for their hard work. The small coastal town of Kosgoda is known for its sea turtle hatcheries.
What’s remarkable about this village is that it’s teeming with conservationists working to save endangered species. Individual turtle conservationists run their hatcheries to accomplish this. Amarasena Fernando built one of these hatcheries in 1966. When the 2004 Tsunami devastated Sri Lanka’s coastal areas, this hatchery became home to many deformed and blind sea turtles. Visitors come from all over the world to see the newborn hatchlings. The Kosgoda Turtle Care Centre, which opened in 1981, is one of 18 turtle hatcheries along Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
My visit to the Amarasena Turtle Hatchery was fantastic. I was shown around by a knowledgeable guide who made sure the tour was both interactive and educational. Sea turtles are long-lived species that have been around for over 100 million years. These turtles eat seaweed, shrimp, jellyfish, sponges, Mollusca, and algae in general, as they lack teeth. Instead, they use a finely sawed beak to tear seagrass and algae from hard surfaces. Each variety has its diet and can live for up to 300 years.
Every 10 to 30 minutes, these turtles come to the surface to breathe. Only about seven different types of sea turtles exist today, with five of them found in Sri Lanka. These are the Green Turtle, the Hawksbill, the Loggerhead, the Olive Ridley and the Leatherback. At Amarasena Turtle Hatchery, I engaged with and had a look at, all of these five endangered species.
Table of Contents
Green Sea Turtle
Green turtles are herbivorous creatures that can weigh up to 230 kilogrammes and grow to be 4 feet long. They are the world’s second-largest sea turtles.
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
These beautiful, tropical Hawksbill turtles weigh around 90 kg and can grow up to 3 feet in length. Their name is derived from the shape of their beaks and heads.
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Loggerhead turtles can weigh up to 185 kilogrammes and grow up to 4 feet in length. The large head and brawny jaws of this large turtle species give it its name. Loggerhead turtles break and eat hard-shelled prey with their powerful jaws.
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
The Olive Ridley Turtle is the most common sea turtle species on the planet. These turtles can reach a weight of 50 kg and a length of 3 feet. Despite this, they are ranked second to the Kemp Ridley in terms of size. Their pale green carapace is clearly the source of their name.
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Last but not least, Leatherback turtles have been around for more than 150 million years. As a result, they are not only the oldest but also the largest reptile. A Leatherback turtle can reach a weight of 375 kilogrammes and a length of six feet.
Amarasena’s staff keeps an eye on the eggs during the night and brings them to his hatchery in the morning. The eggs are buried in a large divided pit once they are returned. You can see the mounds with the names of the turtles it is protecting at the hatchery. Every two months, the eggs hatch. The tiny hatchlings are cared for after they hatch, then released into the ocean after a week. Before swimming into the sea, the tiny hatchlings pave their way to the smooth, powdery, soft sand.
Amarasena has successfully released 800,000 turtles into the sea as of 2019. Fish is fed to the large turtles who stay at the hatchery. Some of the turtles are injured, deformed, or blind. In addition, there is an albino turtle. This hatchery is a good place to start for those interested in sea turtles and nature. For all types of travellers, the hands-on experience is a fantastic outing. You can even feed the turtles! So, if you haven’t yet contributed to the conservation of sea turtles, now is your chance.
Put this activity on your Sri Lanka bucket list, and help the turtles by donating a small amount to their cause. An SLK500 entrance fee is required to visit this Turtle Hatchery.
