VIDEO: Turtle Hatching

Baby sea turtles hatch from their nest and then rush to the sea all together to increase their chances of surviving waiting predators.

In summertime when the weather is warm, pregnant female sea turtles return to the beaches where they themselves hatched years before. They swim through the crashing surf and crawl up the beach searching for a nesting spot above the high water mark. Using her back flippers, the reptile digs a nest in the sand.

The sea turtle lays up to 100 eggs, which incubate in the warm sand for about 60 days. The temperature of the sand determines the genders of baby sea turtles, with cooler sand producing more males and warmer sand producing more females. 

When the tiny turtles are ready to hatch out, they do it all together, creating a scene in the sandy nest that looks like a pot of boiling water. Once hatched, the turtles find their way to the ocean down the slope of the beach. Hatching and moving to the sea all at the same time help them overwhelm waiting predators, which include sea birds, foxes, raccoons, and wild dogs. Those that make it to the sea swim offshore, where they will spend their early years mostly hiding and growing.

Vocabulary: 

pregnant - embarazada

hatch or hatched - romper el cascarón

dig - cavar

nest - nido

lay up eggs - poner huevos 

incubate - incubar

gender - género

overwhelm - abrumar, agobiar

predator - depredador

offshore - lejos de la costa