Olive Ridley Hatchlings in Costa Rica

While vacationing in Costa Rica we were lucky to meet some researchers from the U.S. who invited us to help release hundreds of "Olive Ridley" sea turtles. In this area poachers still capture nesting turtles and take all the eggs to eat or sell so these young people would patrol at night and immediately move the nests. On this afternoon several nests were hatching in an enclosed area where all the nests were moved for safe keeping. As each nest hatched the researchers put the hatchlings in buckets to be carried closer to the sea. There was no problem releasing the hatchlings in daylight for there were no seagulls or other predators on land.