| Witness the first steps of hatchling Green Sea | | | | back to the sea. |
| Turtles on your Costa Rica travel adventure as | | | | One of the most amazing things about these |
| they begin their dangerous run for the sea. Costa | | | | turtles is that they return to the same beach |
| Rica's Tortuguero National Park is a 44,000-acre | | | | where they hatched themselves to lay their |
| refuge known as the largest nesting site for the | | | | eggs. Some females swim over 1500 miles from |
| Green Sea Turtle in the Western Hemisphere. | | | | their feeding grounds to reach these beaches. |
| Even if you aren’t a wildlife lover, watching | | | | This makes conservation of these hatching areas |
| the turtles lay their eggs is an interesting | | | | extremely important for the future of these |
| experience. The females come to the beach after | | | | turtles. |
| dark, so travelers wanting to catch a glimpse of | | | | After the female lays her eggs, 45 to 75 days |
| one only have the moon and specially designed | | | | later, the hatchlings break out of their shell and |
| flashlights to light their way along the beach. Once | | | | begin the most dangerous period of their lives - |
| you find one of these 700-pound, and 4-foot long | | | | the run towards the ocean. This can be a bit of a |
| creatures you can actually watch them dig a hole | | | | bittersweet experience as most of the turtles |
| and lay 100 to 200 eggs the size of golf balls, | | | | don’t make it to the sea and are preyed |
| before covering them with sand and retreating | | | | upon by crabs and birds. |