Jealous? I would be!
Boated over to Turtle Island (aka Selingaan - one of 3 dedicated to conservation) an hour from Sandakan. I got the roller coaster seat at the front :0 Greeted by this gorgeous palm tree.
We were treated to a day of snorkelling and lolling around on the beach. We were well 'looked after' - we seemed to accumulate an extra 'lifeguard' every 1/2 hour. I got a little sting on my neck from a tiny jellyfish :( and lots of bites from pesky sandflies.
As I write this I'm sat on a gorgeous deserted beach with the end of day sun glistening on the sea and some light rain. Bliss :)
2 hours later - Shortly after I wrote that last bit, my blissful state was interrupted when I decided to walk a bit further round the beach only to be confronted by a huge monitor lizard! I hot-footed it back hoping he wasn't in tow!
Turtle time!
After an informative video and dinner we waited for the call to go to the beach to see a turtle lay it's eggs. We didn't have to wait long. They put a small light at the turtle's backside for us to see and ensure no one uses a flash so as not to disturb it too much (more). The eggs are actually collected up as they are laid and taken to the hatchery to be buried out of the way if predators. Interestingly the temperature of the sand determines the gender of the hatchlings - hotter produces females. So half go in the shade and the other in slightly sunnier spot.
An average of 30 turtles nest on this island each night and lay approx 100 eggs each! That's a lora lora eggs!
They only disturb 1 turtle per night, but it was awesome to see another 3 hauling themselves up the beach as we left. The one we saw was a green one but they also get hawksbills here too.
We also got to see a batch of newly hatched little'ns set free into the sea - so cute.