- [Narrator] Our journey takes us to Costa Rica,
more specifically, Tortuguero,
to witness the yearly hatching of baby sea turtles,
and meet the people protecting them.
We arrive by way of La Pavona,
a small port town with one restaurant and a pay toilet.
Our boat operator, Jairo Guzman,
takes us down the Lucky River.
It is a one hour journey to the island itself.
The view is beautiful.
Nearly all species of sea turtles are endangered,
and this island is a prominent nesting ground
for both green and leatherback sea turtles.
It was here in 1959 the very first Sea Turtle Conservancy
was opened by Doctor Archie Carr,
to specifically study green sea turtles,
as they were nearly extinct.
This was their original base, this is their new base.
Along with us from the Conservancy,
is Jaime, head field director.
David, station manager.
(speaking in foreign language)
Silvia, outreach coordinator,
and their 10 research assistants.
They all work here to educate the public and gather data
on the current sea turtle populations.
On day one, we meet in the middle of the night
to count nesting turtles and the eggs they lay.
- Now let's go to the beach.
- [Narrator] Around dawn, we spot a turtle.
She is laying her eggs.
She is one of 36,000 turtles nesting this season
on the beach.
Each turtle will lay around 110 eggs.
In two months, they will hatch.
We get some sleep, and that afternoon,
we ask Jaime about the hatchings.
- [Woman] Take one.
- [Narrator] He says--
- The best time to catch it is right at dawn,
around 5:30 in the morning.
- [Narrator] That means we have some downtime on the island.
David invites us to his makeshift office.
We discuss the vision of the Conservancy.
- Basically, we're working here on the legacy
of Doctor Archie Carr.
He had this idea of changing the mentality of the people,
from harvesting the turtles for their own consumption,
and for making money out of the meat and the eggs,
into an eco-tourism based culture.
It's a very complex thing, to protect the turtles.
- [Narrator] On day two, the alarm goes off,
the team gathers, and we head to the beach.
- We are gonna need a bigger boat.
(upbeat music) (boat engine rumbling)
- [Narrator] For a while, we see nothing.
And then, baby green sea turtles begin making their way
to the ocean.
Only 80% will make it out of the nest,
and of those, one in 1,000 make it to adulthood.
This means that out of nearly four million hatchlings
this season, only around 3,000 will become adults.
And the odds are stacked against them.
(waves crashing)
There is more downtime.
(footsteps squishing)
On our final day, day three,
we go to the beach to excavate a hatched nest.
The research assistants do this job.
It is messy.
They're counting how many eggs have hatched.
In this nest, nine did not make it.
They'll add this information to their decades
of existing research.
That afternoon, Jairo's father, Guzman Senior, picks us up.
As we leave Tortuguero, I can't help but think
of something Silvia said back at the base.
(speaking in foreign language)
Sea turtles are not gonna stop being endangered this year.
And they probably won't stop being endangered
next year either.
But it's good to know that there are people out there
working hard to make change happen.
(soft music)