HOME → RTWINFO → Jepson Trip → Jepson Girl's Blog → Post #013

The Jepson Girls' World Trip Blog

Sept 30, Month 4

Costa Rica's Green Turtle - By Sophia

We went to see a green sea turtle nest in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. Our guide told us that the beginning of the nesting season that there were 18,000 nests in a 5 mile area. I learned a lot about green turtles during our visit to this part of Costa Rica.

The green turtle's get their name from the dark green shells they have. They are about 300 pounds and about the height of my little sister if you stand the turtle up on their back flippers. I think it was amazing that they were that big.

We arrived to the Tortuguero National Park by riding in a taxi boat. This was a tiny boat and it was a pretty sight all around me on the boat ride. We went at nighttime because that is the only time when the mommy turtles lay eggs. There were some lights here and there on the docks but the rest of the ride was mostly dark. It was a nice little boat ride to get to Tortuguero's beaches.

Waiting for the mommy turtles to lay eggs seemed to take forever. It takes a long time because the turtles have to dig a deep hole to lay her eggs in. The guides wouldn't let us get close until the turtle's first egg was laid or else the mommy turtle will get scared and not lay her eggs. If the turtle doesn't lay her eggs, this could led to the turtle's extinction. The tour guide used a red light so that the light wouldn't distract the turtles. Finally, one of the mommy turtle laid her first egg. After they lay their first egg, they concentrate so much that its like a deep, deep sleep. She laid about 100 eggs. The eggs looked like ping-pong balls.

The green turtle nest looks like a deep hole in the sand that a dog has dug. It can take the turtle one to two hours to cover and camouflage the hole before heading back to the sea. Some mommy turtles dig into other nests on accident because the nesting area gets crowded. They camouflage their nests to protect them from their enemies that eat the eggs.

The next morning we got up early and saw the turtle tracks from the night before. The turtle tracks looked like small vehicle tracks. The tracks went from the sea to the jungle edge where the turtles made their nests. The were so many tracks on the beach that they went as far as I could see.

It takes about two months for the baby turtles to hatch. Sometimes people can see the baby turtles hatch and go out to sea if they are there at the right time of the year. The nesting season started early enough that there was a chance we could see some baby turtles. So we went out to look hoping that we would see some. We saw two baby turtles. They were about the size of my palm. The baby turtles are so cute. The baby green sea turtles leave little trails that look white in the sand. We helped a straggler turtle who would have died if we didn't save it. It was flipped over on its back and couldn't turn back over. We picked it up and put it by the shore and watched it go. The baby turtle was very light. We were so happy to have helped the baby turtle.

I enjoyed watching the mommy turtles nest and helping the straggler baby turtle so much. I also learned a lot about the green turtle and how important it is to protect them. It was a very wonderful experience.