As of today, out of season, returns ~October. Earth Exhibit tracks the live conditions and flags it the moment it is on.
Each austral summer, the largest leatherback turtle on Earth returns to the wild surf beaches of Gabon to lay its eggs — and it does so in numbers seen nowhere else.
Gabon hosts the single largest nesting population of leatherbacks in the world, accounting for roughly a third of the global total and about 60% of all nesting females in the entire Atlantic.
At Pongara National Park, just across the estuary from the capital Libreville, females weighing up to half a tonne drag themselves up the dark sand at night, dig deep pits with their flippers, and deposit clutches of eggs before vanishing back into the ocean.
Down the coast at Mayumba National Park, the density is even higher — hundreds of females can come ashore on a single night, the densest leatherback nesting in Africa.
Watching a leatherback nest by red torchlight, an ancient animal little changed in a hundred million years, is one of the great wildlife encounters on the continent.
Where to see it
A taste of where to see it. The full map, exact coordinates and the best timing for each spot live in the app.
| Viewing spots |
|---|
| Pongara National Park beaches |
| Mayumba National Park |
This is the short version
This page shows a taste. The app has the full list of where to see this, the exact timing, and live conditions for 1,000+ natural phenomena worldwide, so you know the moment one is genuinely worth the trip.