A morning with baby Sea Turtles

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An event I thought I would never get to experience without paying some local guide company. Fortunately I was at the right place at the right time for an incredible experience.

The day started like any other day during my many trips to Costa Rica.  Clear blue skies over the Nicoya Peninsula and warm temps.  The plan, to take my students to a remote beach that has become one of my favorites for it’s pristine sand, palm shaded coast, gentle waves and an ocean bottom void of annoying dead coral and volcanic rock known to be present of some other beaches in the area.  However today, Playa Corozalito became my all time favorite for another reason.

We arrived at Corozalito about 9:45am. It’s a 45 minute drive from Samara.  The access road turns left as you approach the beach and continues through palm trees with several picnic tables along the way.  I always choose the end where the last picnic table is located.  As we exited the SUV’s, we were greeted by the squawk of a Scarlet Macaw.  An impressive sight and although I have seen these along other beaches, I’ve never seen one at Corozalito.  As the students snapped photos of the Macaw, another student ventured out on the beach a little ways.  Suddenly a yell out, “baby sea turtle!”  All our attention left the Macaw and focused on a small struggling newly hatched sea turtle.  Having some experience with this from years ago assisting some local scientist with an organized release of sea turtles, I knew the baby sea turtle had to find it’s own way to the ocean.  This was an essential part of the turtle hopefully returning to the same beach to lay eggs when it was mature (depending, of course, if this was a female).

This was an unusual sight because the sea turtles tend to hatch at night or just before dawn.  There are many predators in the day light hours, especially sea gulls and pelicans.   Thinking this was a lone straggler, and having some minimal experience handling baby sea turtles, I assisted the little turtle, bringing it past the deep sand it was struggling to get through.  It was at this point we realized there were hundreds of baby sea turtles making their way to the ocean!

We spent the next two hours watching these incredible turtles start their life with a journey to the sea.  I was amazed how they instinctively know to head for the ocean and to know the direction!  As they approached the water, small waves would flip a few on their back.  They struggled to right themselves using their arms to do a sort of reverse push up.  Never giving up, another wave would rush in and right them and they would begin to swim away.  Even after the water receded back into the ocean, leaving them behind, they continued the push for open water, freedom and the safety of the sea.

After returning to Samara, we learned that these were Olive Ridley Sea Turtles and they are listed on the International Union for Conservation and Nature Red List as “vulnerable.”  This was an experience I will never forget.  I’m not sure my students fully appreciated the experience as I tried to stress how rare it is to come across this event.  I’ll be back next year and hope to be as lucky!

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