Leatherback turtle eggs fail to hatch

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines  â€“ Bad news. Not one of the 90 eggs laid last July 14 by a rare leatherback turtle in the coastline of Albay Gulf here hatched when these were inspected by marine experts yesterday.

Nilo Ramosa, leader of the Pawikan Conservation Project of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the eggs’ embryos stopped from developing into full-grown baby turtles during the 62-day incubation period.

Ramosa said the eggs – with a diameter of 5.4 to 5.7 centimeters – could have been soaked or submerged in salty water before they were transferred to another hatching area.

“The features of the eggs when we inspected them indicated that they were soaked in salt water that halted their embryonic development,” Ramosa told The STAR.

He said they kept at least 20 eggs that would be preserved for further study and future reference. The others were buried.

He said the preserved eggs could be subjected to genetic analysis to determine their original habitat.

“Since it is really very rare to see an egg of a leatherback turtle, at least these preserved eggs could tell us how they look like and what their physical features are,” Ramosa said.