Sea Turtle Hatchlings, Banderas Bay

 

What a thrill to release an Olive Ridley turtle hatchling into the water and watch it begin life in its natural habitat!  I sent it off with blessings for a long and happy life.  These ancient creatures can live up to 80 years, most of those years in the water.  Females will return many times to the same beach from which they were hatched. 

We gathered on the beach just north of Paradise Village at twilight with about 50 people to release the hatchlings. This endangered species is getting help from conservation programs and volunteers who build secure nurseries on the beach where the eggs are gathered and protected and released after they hatch. The biggest threat to their lives has been human intervention; poaching and fish nets.  It is now a hefty prison term for anyone caught stealing eggs.  Natural predators include birds so the hatchlings are released at dusk to help prevent them from becoming snacks.      

A polypropylene line was placed in the sand about 30 feet from the surf line. We rubbed sand in our hands so the smell of this particular beach would be imprinted on the hatchling’s brain. The biologists took a hatchling from the plastic pail and placed it in our cupped hands. 

On the count of three, we all pointed our hatchlings toward the water and placed them in the sand.  They looked for the sun on the horizon and headed for it.  Well…most of them did.  Some got a little confused and disoriented and took the scenic route to the ocean, turning left or right a few times before meandering down to the surf line.  Some turned around completely and headed away from the water.  Perhaps they weren’t quite ready to get their feet wet, but the volunteers helped them all eventually find their way. 

We left at dark with the image of these precious hatchlings all paddling out to sea and knowing that we had helped in a small way to give them their best chance to survive and to one day return to this same beach to lay their own eggs.  In the photo below, the little black dots are the hatchlings going to the sea.