This is the moment countless vulnerable sea turtles arrive on the Mexican coastline to lay their eggs with experts saying over half a million females have nested in the area so far this year.
The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is the world’s second smallest sea turtle and are categorised as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Video credit: CEN/@CONANP_mx
The nesting turtles were filmed arriving on the Morro Ayuta Beach in the south-western Mexican state of Oaxaca.
According to the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, it was the third arrival of the olive ridley sea turtles this year and experts estimate that so far over 584,000 females have nested in the area.
It is estimated that only one out of over 100 olive ridley sea turtles make it to adulthood due to predators and human activity, including hunting and plastic waste in the oceans.
According to reports, it has been illegal to eat the turtles or their eggs in Mexico since 1990.
Each season, the remarkable turtles return to the exact same spot where they hatched to lay their own eggs, often travelling thousands of miles in the process.
After being born, they head out to sea and rarely return to land, except when the females come back to nest.
This return presents a rare opportunity for scientists to study them, and also to fit them with tracking devices in order to understand more about their habits in order to protect them.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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