A Sea Turtle picture a day #15

Welcome back to A Sea Turtle Picture a day. Today we are heading back down to Mexico.This picture is of a Olive Ridley(Lepidochelys olivacea) hatchling that is struggling getting thru some vegetation that is growing along the shore line. I really liked the color of the flowers and the size relationship with the hatchlings. All of the hatchlings made it thru the vegetation and down into the ocean saftely.
This picture was taken with a 60mm lens

A Sea Turtle picture a day #14

Welcome back to a Sea Turtle picture a day. Today I figured that I wanted to change things up a little bit. The picture for today is a close up of a Green Sea Turtle(Chelonia mydas) face.
What really made me focus on this picture is the detail in the eye and also the facial pattern. The facial pattern on the Green Sea turtles head is unique to that turtle,much like a fingerprint is to a human. These facial patterns are used as an identification tool.
This picture was taken with a 70-200mm lens
See You Tomorrow

A Sea Turtle picture a day #13

Welcome back to A Sea Turtle Picture a day. Today we are heading back to my favorite place in the world to see Sea Turtles. The Puako cleaning station on the Big Island of Hawaii
A cleaning station is a particular area of the reef where a particular inhabitant of the reef goes to be cleaned by another inhabitant. One gets a shower the other gets a meal.
In our case the Green Sea Turtle(Chelonia mydas)is being cleaned by Yellow Tang. The Sea Turtle gets the algea cleaned off of its shell and the Tangs get a snack.
I can swim in circles for hours and watching this and in fact I have and have many more awesome pictures to share with you.
This picture was taken with a 12-24mm wide angle lens
See you tomorrow

A Sea Turtle picture a day #12

Welcome back to A Sea Turtle Picture a day. Today we are off to the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.This picture is of a Leatherback Sea turtle(Dermochelys coriacea)hatchling that is making its way down to the ocean after coming out of its nest.
When I took this picture I was on a trip to video and photograph Leatherback hatchlings as they emerged from their nest. I was following this particular hatchling with both a video camera and my still camera alternating between the two.
The lens I used was a 60mm macro lens
See you tomorrow

A Sea Turtle picture a day #11

Welcome back to a Sea Turtle picture a day .Today we are back in the Hawaiian Islands. Those of you that have been following this blog may notice that alot of my Turtle pictures are taken there.The reason for that is that The Hawaiian Islands are one of the best places in the world to see Sea Turtles up close.
Today's picture is that of a Green Sea Turtle(Chelonia mydas)that is in the tide pools looking for food.I sat along the shore line watching a few of these guys foraging.I was using a telephoto lens and patiently waiting for one of them to raise its head for a breath.I think that this is an awesome photo.
Picture taken with a 70- 300mm lens
See you tomorrow

A Sea Turtle picture a day #10

Welcome back to a Sea Turtle Picture a day.Today's picture is of a Green Sea Turtle(Chelonia mydas) that has crawled out on the rocks to Bask. Basking is a way that Sea Turtles warm them selves.
This picture was taken in Hawaii. One of the things that I like the most about this picture is the algae on the back of the turtle matches the algae that is growing on the surrounding lava rocks.
This photo was taken with a 70-200mm telephoto lens.
See you tomorrow

A Sea Turtle picture a day #9

Happy new year everyone. I hope that everyone is doing well and ready for an exciting new year. Welcome back to A Sea Turtle a day.As I was looking thru my Turtle pictures this morning i was thinking about which pictures moved me the most as I was taking them.In the last 3 years I have been on more then 10 dedicated turtle adventures and have seen a lot of really great Sea Turtle behaviour but the thing that really gets me is watching a nest of hatching's emerge from the sand and get their orientation to the horizon and quickly move towards the ocean.
The photo trip that I was able to see this behaviour was in the British Virgin Islands.I was hired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp to go to the BVI and get some Leatherback sea turtle footage for a special segment that they were working on.I also brought my cameras as well as their video equipment.
I was staying in a beach side home that had known Leatherback sea turtle nest right in front of it.My assignment was to catch the hatching's on camera when they emerged,Sounds easy right? The only problem is that the hatching's usually come out after 7pm or before 7am. That meant that I spent a lot of sleepless night alone with my camera gear on the beach. I am not complaining I was able to get some great photos and video.
This picture is of a Leatherback Sea Turtle emerging out of the sand
Taken with a 60 mm macro lens
See you tomorrow.