The tracks were found by a sea turtle conservation volunteer who reported them to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) on Friday afternoon.
The tracks indicated that the turtle was believed to be 1.8 metres wide, Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, Chief of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), told The Phuket News. (See story here.)
The tracks were hoped to lead to the eighth turtle nest to be found in the region since the first nest was discovered on Thai Muang Beach in Phang Nga on Nov 17.
However, a team of DMCR experts have so far failed to find a nest on the Koh Phra Thong beach, Dr Kongkiat told The Phuket News today (Jan 27).
“The team followed the tracks and kept digging for two hours on Saturday, but were unable to find any turtle nest,” he said.
“I think that the turtle to came to explore where to lay eggs, but found that the beach had too much of a slope, so she didn’t lay her eggs and returned to the sea. She might come back next week,” Dr Kongkiat said.
“We now have officers to check the beach every day to check for fresh tracks or even see the turtle return herself. The officers will check other areas on Koh Phra Thong and Koh Ra island [immediately north of Koh Phra Thong],” Dr Kongkiat explained.
“I will let everyone know if we find anything,” he said.