How deep is deep enough? Analysis of sea turtle eggs nest relocation procedure at Chagar Hutang Turtle Sanctuary

Abstract

Sea turtle eggs incubation involves natural and artificial incubation of eggs, and indeed the depth will be varied and presumably affect the development of hatchlings. For nest relocation, the researcher needs to decide on the depth to incubate the eggs. Sea turtle eggs clutches may vary between 40 and 120 eggs for the green turtle, thus using a single value as the standard procedure might affect the quality of hatchlings. Here we quantify the dimension of the natural (in-situ) nest constructed by the nester and the artificial (ex-situ) built by our ranger during nest relocation. We suggest a linear regression calculation of Y = 0.2366X + 59.3267, better predict a more accurate nest depth based on the number of eggs to imitate the natural nest.

Keywords

• Hatchery management
• Hatching success
• Conservation
• Endangered species
• South China Sea