The head of Sirinath National Park, Watchara Songsi-on, reported that the discovery was made by an official from the 2nd Marine National Park Operations Center around 2:15am this morning.
The officer was conducting a routine patrol as part of a sea turtle nesting survey being undertaken, when he made the discovery adjacent to the JW Marriott Hotel at Mai Khao Beach.
Further inspection revealed that the tracks on the sand indicated that the turtle’s shell was 110 cm wide and the flipper swipe reached 200 cm. The eggs had been buried at a depth of approximately 70 centimetres in the sand and a total of 103 of the 137 eggs inspected were deemed healthy with the other 34 classed as ‘hollow’.
As the nest was at risk of flooding by seawater, the officers moved the eggs to the safety of incubators in a nearby pen which will be watched over by park officials.
Officers expect the turtles to hatch in 55-60 days, meaning they would be due to hatch between Apr 19-24.
The news comes after a similar discovery was made at Mai Khao Beach on Feb 14, the first instance of a leatherback turtle laying eggs on Phuket shores this season, which began in November.
The leatherback turtle is a protected wild animal in Thailand with full conservation status as per the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act 2019.