First Step of a Long Journey

Théo Guillaume

This contribution traces the fragile odyssey of baby green turtles in the Tetiaroa Atoll (Tahiti, French Polynesia), from hatching to their departure into the ocean. Through a perspective that combines science and art, it reveals the immense challenges these emerging creatures face, between predators and natural obstacles. A tribute to the beauty, vulnerability, andresilience of this fragile marine life.

BIOGRAPHY

Originally from Avize, in the heart of Champagne, my passion for the underwater world began at the age of 10 during trips to Mauritius and Martinique. Since then, I have focused my entire career on studying the ocean. With a double master’s degree in oceanography and marine biology, I have worked on the impact of trawling and on the reproduction of green turtles. I currently live in French Polynesia, where I coordinate the monitoring of Chelonia mydas nesting on the Tetiaroa atoll for the Te Mana O Te Moana association. Photography was initially a way to keep track of the species I encountered before becoming a real tool for raising awareness. My commitment to photography has led me to illustrate scientific publications and participate in participatory science projects. Over the past three years, my photographs have received several awards, including prizes in the Millesimages Reefs and L’Œil du Climat competitions.

SERIES OVERWIEW

This photographic series traces the fragile and extraordinary journey of baby green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), from hatching to their first moments in the ocean. Each image captures a key moment in this thousand-year odyssey: emerging from the sand, the perilous crossing of the beach, the first contact with water, crossing the lagoon, crossing the reef, and then the beginning of life in the immensity of the ocean. As a marine biologist and underwater photographer based in French Polynesia, I have been coordinating the monitoring of nesting on the Tetiaroa atoll for two years for the Te Mana O Te Moana association. This place, a protected natural sanctuary, offers me a unique proximity to green turtles, which I observe and study on a daily basis. It is in this setting that I had the opportunity to capture each shot in this photographic series. Armed with my camera, I document these fleeting moments, between extreme vulnerability and survival instinct. Through this series, I want to tell an invisible, often forgotten story: that of a perilous journey, where every obstacle and every predator can be fatal. Yet despite everything, they press on. They crawl, they swim, guided by an ancient instinct and a moving determination. These photographs are intended to be both documentary and sensitive, scientific and poetic. They aim to stir emotions, raise awareness, and remind us of the importance of conservation efforts for these protected species. To show is to begin to protect.
After spending nearly 60 days developing buried about 20 inches below the sand, newly hatched green sea turtles begin their ascent toward the light. Their emergence marks the beginning of a journey that is as perilous as it is fascinating.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa Atoll in February 2025.
On the surface, the first rays of daylight and the slope of the beach guide the emerging turtles towards the lagoon.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in February 2024.
On this white sand, every second counts. Crabs, hermit crabs, and other land predators lurk, watching for vulnerable prey. In this breathless crossing, survival is a matter of speed, luck, and determination.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in February 2024.
As soon as they are submerged, the young turtles discover a new world. The lagoon becomes their terrain for exploration, but also the scene of new challenges. Their goal: to reach the reef, the ultimate frontier before the open sea.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in February 2023.
Under the peaceful reflections of the lagoon, blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) patrol.
Natural predators, they remind us that every step toward the ocean is a challenge where beauty rubs
shoulders with danger.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in January 2024.
The emerging ones must cross the last barrier: the coral reef. Between corals and clusters of brown algae (Turbinaria ornata), they make their way, searching for the gap that will guide them to the vastness of the ocean.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in November 2024.
Once they have passed the reef, the ocean opens up before them. Predation subsides, but the unknown stretches out before them. The newcomers take their first breath underwater, then rise to the surface to take their first breath on the open sea before continuing into the blue expanse.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in December 2024.
Beyond the reef, baby turtles disappear into the blue. Scientists still don't know their exact destination,
but it is assumed that they drift with the ocean currents during their first years of life.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in December 2024.
Only one in a thousand turtles will reach adulthood. Between natural threats and human pressures,
pollution, climate change, drift nets, poaching, collisions, their journey is a long struggle for survival.

Photographed on the Tetiaroa atoll in November 2024.