The Incredible Nesting of Ridley's Turtles: The Role of the Moon

🌊 The video takes place on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica during a special night when turtles emerge from the surf.

🐢 These turtles, specifically female Ridley's turtles, visit the beach to lay their eggs in the sand, with 400,000 turtles visiting over the course of six days.

🌕 The moon is in its last quarter, halfway between full and new, during this time when the turtles arrive.

🐢 Every year, a quarter of the world's population of Ridley's turtles come to a specific beach to lay their eggs.

🌙 The nesting of these turtles, known as an arribada, is coordinated based on the phases of the moon.

🥚 During this mass nesting event, around forty million eggs are laid in just a few days.

🐢 The beach is a dangerous place for baby turtles, with many predators waiting to attack them.

🌙 Female turtles use the moon as a cue to synchronize their nesting and increase the chances of survival for their offspring.

🦅 Vultures have learned to take advantage of the returning tide to search for freshly laid eggs that are exposed by the surf.

🐢 Female turtles tend to lay their eggs during the last or first quarter of the moon when the tides are weakest and the sea is calm.

🌊 The moon's monthly cycle and its influence on the tides play a significant role in triggering various events in the ocean, such as the spawning of corals on the Great Barrier Reef.

🐟 Understanding the breeding cycles of fish.

☀️ The annual cycle of the Sun has a profound effect on marine life.