BBC Documentaries

Nature's Turtle Nursery: Secrets from the Nest (2018x150)

: 25, 2018

Nature's Turtle Nursery: Secrets from the Nest features the extraordinary natural history event of an 'arribada' - the mass nesting phenomenon of olive ridley sea turtles in Costa Rica, Central America. Dr George McGavin joins a team of international scientists as they investigate the complete story from the moment the female turtles gather offshore, then lay their eggs, to when the next generation are born. The programme embraces the larger conservation story of these ancient mariners and how they're adapting to our ever-changing world. And in a scientific first, the complete story inside a single turtle nest is revealed, using recent scientific discoveries and the latest technological advances. An egg-to-egg turtle talk is listened in on, adult females on their migration are tracked, and behaviour under the waves is analysed with a turtle shell-mounted camera. How tiny turtles behave as they hatch out of their shells and work together to dig upwards is also revealed.