Our Huge Loggerhead Skull Is On Its Way to Gales Point in Southern Belize

A few weeks ago…maybe a bit more…our camp’s chef, Albert, something WAY out of the ordinary. He found a loggerhead skull…and shell on a remote section of beach way up north. Wow.

My first thought was the law of Belize. You all know the one. Regulation 10 of Statutory Instrument No. 66 of 2002, under the Fisheries Resources Act No. 7 of 2020.

But if you forgot some of language, here it is:

No person shall fish for in the waters of Belize or buy, sell, or have in possession any turtle of the following species: a) Eretmochelys imbricata (Hawksbill Turtle) b) Caretta caretta (Loggerhead Turtle) c) Chelonia mydas (Green Turtle) d) Dermochelys coriacea (Leatherback Turtles)

• No person shall take any turtle found on land; disturb, take, buy, sell, or have in possession any turtle or turtle eggs; or interfere with any turtle nest, except under written permission from the Fisheries Administrator • No person shall buy, sell, take, or have in his possession part of turtles or articles made of any part of turtle.

It’s pretty clear. So…we messaged the authorities.

It’s sea turtle mating season in our region. And, I’ve learned, that not only do the females lay eggs on the same beach they were born, but they also mate on the same area.

Our chef – who goes on very long run/walks also saw 2 turtles…mating in very shallow water! Another once in a lifetime sighting.

So the males and the female are around. Lots of snorkelers and divers have been spotting the gorgeous loggerheads for the last few weeks. They are named for their HUGE heads in comparison to their bodies. And the skull we found, to me, was SHOCKINGLY huge.

They’ve got the huge heads but the green turtles can grow larger…and the leatherbacks are the biggest. Though leatherbacks are RARELY sighted off-shore and not known to lay eggs on the Belize coast.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of humanity’s earliest alien/sea monster stories started exactly this way…

This is all reminding me of the COOLEST THING I have ever seen in Belize- and that is saying something. The time…when I was on a catamaran…and the crew saved a turtle who was suffocating on a pufferfish! (Looking back at the blog post and the picture, I can see that it was a loggerhead!)

Ok…back to the skull. I was trying to get a photo of it that would really convey the crazy size of it.

Here’s a similar-size replica for sale – and you can see how ours is missing the beak and the bottom jaw.

I posted a picture of it on Facebook. And got a message. Well…I got many messages but one was from Jamal Galves A-List Belizean Celebrity. He travels all over the world as an Belize ambassador and as a manatee first-responder and expert. His is known locally as “The Manatee Man”.

He rescued a tiny baby manatee that washed up on land in Belize City during Hurricane Earl. It’s impossible to watch this interview with Jamal by the BBC without tearing up.

(See here how 2016’s Cat One Hurricane Earl affected Ambergris Caye)

Jamal is building an education and research center in one of the most interesting villages in Belize – Gales Point. It’s such a unique spot geographically – a tiny spit of land jutting into a lagoon, culturally – a Kriol village founded by runaway slaves, and the nature!…the beach nearby is a top nesting area for Hawksbill turtles. Take a look – I’m dying to go back.

And now I have another reason. When the center opens – by the end of this year, I believe – there will be a display case…so that everyone can see this incredible HUGE loggerhead skull.

And maybe there will a plaque? Found on the beach, Bacalar Chico National Park, Ambergris Caye, 2026

Our island is incredible!

Here’s my handoff to Jamal at the Sustainability Conference last week. I can’t wait until the center opens – I’ll be heading down to Gales Point as soon as I can. I’ve been talking about returning since 2019!

I’m not sure I would have handed this skull over to anyone else.

This skull is by far the craziest thing we’ve found on the beach but here are a few others:

A list of things, including a headless rough angular shark that Rachel Graham, marine biologist, asked me to throw in our freezer

Cool rock-hard grinding plates from an eagle ray

Rubber bales that have washed up around the world…

A piece of a Russian Satellite!

And for those who are about to ask…I have never found any square grouper. And if I did…or suspected I did…I’d turn around and walk in the other direction…