Baby Turtles
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua - San Juan del Sur is known for a few things: a massive pool party scene known as “Sunday Funday” by travelers, beautiful beaches, surfing and a hip downtown with various restaurants, bars and boutique shops. Perhaps less known to most is that within a short bus ride you’ll find 1 of only 4 beaches in Central America where Olive Ridley turtles arrive every year to lay their eggs in the sand.
These turtles can get to be as big as 45 lbs. During the months of July and January they arrive in masses to the beach, digging a hole about 1 foot deep and depositing hundreds of turtle eggs. A couple months later, the eggs will hatch and the baby turtles will fight against the sand to reach the surface. Usually they do this at night, as there are fewer predators waiting for them as they slowly make their way toward the ocean to start their lives in the sea. Interestingly, only about 1 in 1000 turtles live to see adulthood.
Humans are also a big predator of these turtle eggs, as people pay a pretty penny for them for various culinary dishes. We visited La Flor Wildlife Refuge, which aims to protect various species and natural habitats. Some of the egg nests are extracted from the beach right after the eggs are deposited and observed for several weeks. Once they hatch, they are then taken to the beach (usually at night to avoid predators) and allowed to safely venture toward the ocean. This is one way to ensure the turtle population maintains healthy in the area.
Taking the detour to La Flor was well worth the trip and we learned much more about turtles than we´d ever thought. Seeing the whole process and learning about all of the risks involved gave us a new appreciation for the turtles we see out at sea. It was also great to see how local wildlife refuges are working to ensure these species continue to thrive in their native habitats.
La Flor Wildlife Refuge - bags of baby turtle eggs seen here which are hatched and taken to the beach to ensure the turtles make it to the water safely
Baby turtles hatched that day - we took them to the beach and set these little ones free
After walking along the beach for several minutes, our guide spotted movement in the sand which turned out to be baby turtles poking their heads out of the sand. Can you spot them?
