Sea Turtles

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Between the months of July and January thousands of paslama sea turtle arrive at the adjacent "La Flor" beach, just two kilometers from our Playa el Coco. This massive arrival of paslama sea turtles is a phenomenon occurring on very few beaches world wide.

VIDEO MASSIVE TURTLE ARRIVAL AT PLAYA LA FLOR

The existence of the marine turtle dates back some 150 million years. Its predecessor was the giant turtles that lived in the sea in the long gone by age of the dinosaurs. During millions of years and as a product of natural selection their front feet gradually changed into their present day flippers and their bodies became lighter and more streamlined. The dinosaurs and the giant land turtles became extinct and today we can only appreciate then through their fossils in some museums. On the contrary, our marine turtle has managed to survive and today we still find eight species living around the world in different oceans with warm and temperate waters.

Nicaragua has a Pacific coast line of some 360 kilometers of which approximately 93 are sandy and appropriate for marine turtle nesting. Situated from north to south, the recognized nesting beaches are: Padre Ramos, Jiquilillo, Isla Juan Venado, Salinas Grandes, El Tránsito, Montelimar, Masachapa, Pochomil, Bocana de Tecolapa, Chacocente, Ensenada Amarillo, Punta Píe de Gigante, El Pocoyo, Punta Brito, Punta Majagual, El Toro, La Flor y El Ostional. It is on these beaches that different species of marine turtle nest, including the paslama turtle which nests in a gregarious form while other species like the tora turtle nest in a sporadic form.

"The arrival" - an amazing experience

The marine turtle has migratory habits that induce it periodically to cover great sea distances from its feeding habitat to its spawning habitat. Usually the arrival of the paslama turtle occurs during the last quarter of the lunar cycle. A normal spawning season might see some eight different arrivals, each one comprising some 3 thousand female turtles. As a rule the arrivals occur during a rain so it is recommended to bring along some rain togs to wear while observing this incredible occurrence.

Once the female turtle has found a site on which to nest, she proceeds to dig a hole in the sand using her hind flippers. Then she ovulates into this sandy cavity, depositing more than a hundred eggs that have the shape, size and color of ping pong balls. She then covers the nest with sand to hide the eggs, compacting the sand with her body in order to confuse possible predators.

The entire nesting process takes about an hour after which the female turtle returns to the sea. She will probably come back for nesting once or twice more during the same season The incubation process takes from 48 to 52 days after which the little turtles can be seen coming out of the nest and crawling over the sand down to the water line of the beach. On this their first trip to the sea, the baby turtles encounter a series of dangers as they traverse some 100 meters of soft sand. Their shell is soft and on their short trip to the sea it offers practically no protection from attacking marauders such as sand crabs, marine birds, buzzards and raccoons. Usually very few turtles actually reach their protective ocean habitat.