These little turtle hatchlings in this video are running what is colloquially referred to on the Ningaloo as the “Turtle Race of Death.”
Sea turtles sure do have a rough start to life! Their innate instinct to follow the light leads them to the ocean, but this is when they are most vulnerable to predators. These dastardly dive-bombing seabirds are often the first ones to attack. The seagulls have the unfair advantage of being able to spy baby sea turtles from the sky and pick them off from the beach or the surface of the water.
If quick enough to make it to the water, the hatchlings will try to reach deeper water and hide, but most of them don’t live past the first few minutes of their lives… And if they manage to run the gauntlet and get past the seabirds and crabs, they’re then preyed upon by carnivorous fish such as groupers, snappers, rockfish, barracuda and even sharks.
Due to such an intense start to life, it is estimated that only 1 in 1,000 hatchlings will survive to adulthood.
Those lucky females that make it to adulthood will return to the same beach they hatched on to lay their own little hatchlings.
A few ways we can help give turtles their best chance to survive to adulthood by…
-Reducing artificial light in turtle nesting areas (Hatchlings are easily disoriented by natural light when trying to find their way to the sea)
-Not bringing pets to known turtle nesting areas (Your dog will kill a baby turtle)
-Reducing use of plastic (For many reasons… But for one instance, they often confuse plastic bags for one of their favorite foods - jellyfish)
-Reducing consumption of commercially-sourced seafood (Turtles are often entangled or accidentally caught as bycatch)
