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#
of Green Sea Turtles Rescued
2
Sea
Turtle Survival Rate
1 in 1,000
Nests
seen in Tortuguero
275
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Lesson
Plans
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Saving
Baby Sea Turtles!
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little bit before 5:00 AM, Dave, Francisco, and I crossed
the canal to the Caribbean coast near Tortuguero.
On Tortuguero's
42 kilometer stretch of beach, more green
sea turtles come to nest than any other place in the
western hemisphere. Francisco told us that on any given
night during the green
sea turtle nesting season, there could be as many
2,000 turtles ashore looking for the perfect place to
lay their eggs. |
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Francisco
was not optimistic that we'd find any hatchlings. Most
of the sea
turtles hatch in September through mid-October.
However, Dave and I were hoping to find a few late bloomers.
We started to look into nests that looked like they
had recent hatchlings come out of. When the turtles
hatch they leave telltale tracks toward the ocean. The
nests with the freshest tracks might still have a few
hatchlings in the bottom.
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When a female sea turtle lays her eggs, she has to
dig out a nest with her rear flippers. The depth of
the nest is only as long as her flippers will allow
her dig. She creates a large chamber for the eggs to
fall into. Generally a sea turtle lays between 60-90
eggs in each nest.
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Francisco finally found two hatchlings. Dave and
I were so excited! Finding sea
turtles was one of the main reasons we came to
Costa Rica. Turtles are so important to world, because
they measure the health of the world's oceans. Turtles
are some of the oldest animals on Earth. It is thought
that sea turtles are older than dinosaurs. But, it's
only been in the last few hundred years that their
numbers are starting to dwindle because of water pollution,
habitat loss, and poaching.
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Getting the chance to hold a turtle was amazing. Besides
being really cute, you can tell that even as babies
their bodies have the strength to navigate the world's
oceans, swimming thousands and thousands of miles throughout
their lives.
Frosty
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Critters
of Costa Rica Index
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