I am a leatherback turtle and hatched on May 17th, 2010!
I had a 6cm long shell when I hatched, and there were 96 fertile eggs laid with me.
Leatherback turtle eggs take 53 days to hatch, though some babies take longer than others.
My mother’s shell is 155 cm long and 115 cm wide, and she dug us a nest that was 73 cm deep! Some volunteers couldn’t dig nests because their arms were too short. My mom left large tracks on the beach when she came up to lay eggs because of her big fins, making it easy for poachers to find where she laid her nest. To protect me and my nestmates, the people at La Tortuga Feliz relocated our nest to a safe place called the Hatchery shortly after my mom laid our eggs. While I was buried in sand and growing in my soft-shelled egg, volunteers stood guard 24 hours a day to make sure no poachers stole eggs and no bugs or crabs got into the nests and ate us.
For more information about the project that kept me growing, visit www.LaTortugaFeliz.com!

The Hatchery

This is the Hatchery, there is a nest under each cage.

53 days had gone by,
so it was time to dig us up.

 

I am an example of why the hatchery is so important.
Many things threaten sea turtles, even before we hatch. Insects will lay their eggs there, and the larvae will dig through our soft shells and eat our yolks, then our eyes. Crabs find us to be a delicious meal. The nets covering the nests in the hatchery, and the volunteers checking on the nests ensure that fewer babies are killed by these threats. My nest did not have this protection. Costa Rica has put new protections on sea turtles, and LTF did not receive permission to have a hatchery until after laying season began. Until then, guides moved the nests to a secret location to prevent poachers from following our mother’s tracks to where we were laid. When 56 days had gone by without any sign of babies, my nest was dug up to look for survivors. There were very few. Tortugas finish their development by absorbing the yolk, this becomes the stomach. My yolk is the red ball I am hugging in the picture above. I showed some life, but not for long.
For more information about the project that gave me some hope, visit www.LaTortugaFeliz.com