The Olive Ridley sea turtle is sometimes called a beautiful dancer, because after the female lays her eggs, she bounces on the sand, pounding it flat to seal the site where she has deposited her eggs. She props herself up on her front flippers and hind legs, alternately bouncing her plastron side to side in a little dance.
Watching the mother laying her eggs (we saw two last year, both around 7AM) and seeing these hatchlings come from the nest is a thrill.
It never gets old. This day (9-18-18) we even got to witness some of them struggling out of the nest. Fascinating! Here’s the video. (It may take a bit to load, but it’s worth it).
Here are some still shots.
These little ones are said to weigh only 0.6 oz. (17g).
Isabela, our sweet dog, just sits and watches with us as we marvel at the babies on their way to their ocean home. She never bothers them, but she is often the one who spots them for us.
I sure wish we could convince people not to drive on the beach. It is hard to see these little guys if you are just speeding along. Who wants to run over these sweet creatures? I’ve personally spoken with some of the gringos who drive on the beach. They just don’t care. It’s illegal, but not enforced, so these people drive over the nests where the mother turtles only dig down about 10-12 inches to lay these eggs. These drivers could potentially be driving on the babies as they head to their ocean home. It’s not that easy to see them, they are so small.
These little creatures (hatchlings are about 0.6 oz or 17g) have such a hard way to go as it is. Only about one in a hundred will make it to maturity. Olive Ridley turtles reach sexual maturity at 35 years or more. So many things can go wrong for them, and it is important to protect them so that they can continue to come back to our beaches and lay their eggs.
They work so hard to get to the water. The males never return to the beach, but the females come back to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs. A miracle.
Here’s video of the run to the ocean.
If ever you are blessed to witness this, how could you not be thrilled?
How could you not be convinced to stop driving on the beach?
My husband purchased for me a comprehensive book, Sea Turtles, A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation, by James R. Spotila, at the Tecolte Book Store in Todos Santos. It is a wealth of information and has glorious photos of all types of the sea turtles. According to this text, most olive ridleys lay 2 or 3 clutches of eggs each year–each clutch can be up to 110 eggs. Another interesting fact is that the eggs that reach the highest temperatures (86-88 degrees) become females, hence they are mostly found in the center of the nest.,
Adult ridleys eat crabs, snails, clams, barnacles, algae, fish, fish eggs, and jellyfish. Sounds like they might like the sushi bar.
Here in southern Baja on our beaches the turtles come up to nest between July and December. It can take from 6 weeks to 2 months before turtles hatch. It depends on a lot of things, but mostly temperature.
The first nest I came across this year was on June 8th, long before the season is said to start. So far this year, my husband and I have marked 30 nests. The hatching we witnessed yesterday was a nest we had not marked.
Sea turtles are magnificent animals. There are many people who work on the beaches and in the ocean to study and save them.
If you live on the beach, turn your lights out at night, or at the very least, use turtle friendly lighting. The hatchlings head to the light. You don’t want them to go the wrong way and have less a chance to make it to the sea.
We can all do our part to keep trash, not just straws, out of the ocean, and keep our beaches natural.
Throw your trash in the ocean or on the beach? Drive on the beach? A resounding, “NO!” The turtles will thank you by living to come nest on a beach near you.
