Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sightseeing
Cayman Turtle Farm
, 825 Northwest Point Road, West Bay,
345-949-3893/3894, www.turtle.ky. The chief sightseeing stop
on the West Bay is also one of the island's most popular. The
world's only turtle farm, it had over 260,000 visitors last year. Since 1968
this unique farm has offered visitors the chance to get up close and per-
sonal with green sea turtles.
Green turtles, named for the color of their fat, can weigh 700 pounds and
you can watch them slowly swimming in open-air tanks in the center of the
farm. You'll even have the opportunity to pick up one of the small reptiles.
The turtle farm has been both praised and criticized for its operation.
Many turtles are released into the sea every year from this farm, although
others find their way onto Cayman dinner tables. Turtle meat served at lo-
cal restaurants comes from the Cayman Turtle Farm, which defends its ef-
forts and points out that by providing turtle meat - a longtime Caymanian
favorite - to the local market, it diminishes the need for turtle hunting.
Also, the survival rate of turtles bred at the farm is much higher than in
the wild. Here, nine out of every 10 turtles survive, as compared to one out
of 10 hatchlings in the wild.
TURTLE TRIVIA
The sex of green sea turtles is dependent on the temperature
during incubation. At 82
, an equal number of males and fe-
males are born. If the temperatures are cooler, all males are
produced. At warmer temperatures, the hatchlings will all be
female.
Only one mature turtle is expected to survive from an average
10,000 eggs in the wild.
Mating season for green sea turtles lasts from April through
July; the pair may mate for as long as six days.
Nesting season occurs from May through October.
°
At the turtle farm, single individual turtles have laid as many
as 690 eggs in a single clutch. A female may nest one to 10 times
a season, producing up to 1,700 eggs in a year. She may nest ev-
ery year or skip several years.
Mature green sea turtles have been observed to stay underwa-
ter for several days without surfacing for air.
