How many leatherbacks does it take to make an arribada ?
In terms of body mass, ten leatherbacks are roughly equal to a hundred ridleys. does that count ? And speaking of collision courses, leatherbacks that strayed into each others path didnt seem to be in the least concerned or even aware that this particular obstacle was a moving object with flippers and all. I did wait all season for a ridley and a leatherback to nest side by side, not common because they had neatly partitioned the 1 km nesting beach. Eventually, when it did happen, it was 50 metres from our camp, but I wasn't there. hmm, the wildlife photographers curse strikes again ....
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Good point about converting from ridleys to leatherbacks. I think the 10:1 ratio is about right. But, what the heck is the threshold for an arribada the first place? 100 turtles at the same time? 300? In how long a stretch of beach?
Wait a minute! I forgot about the sliding baseline syndrome, so I guess today's arribada is nothing compared to those of yesteryear, and all turtles are going extinct.....
Posted by: matthew | February 9, 2003 03:04 AM