The return of female sea turtles, often after years or decades at sea, to nest on the same beach, or one very close to it, where they themselves hatched, guided by a magnetic sense that allows them to navigate thousands of kilometers of open ocean back to a natal shoreline. Species such as the green turtle and loggerhead may migrate over a thousand kilometers between foraging grounds and nesting beaches, laying multiple clutches of eggs across a single nesting season before returning to distant feeding areas for another one to several years.
Facts
PeriodicityAdult sea turtles migrate every 2 to 5 years from their coastal foraging areas to the waters off the nesting beaches where they originally hatched to reproduce. 1 ScaleSea turtle hatchlings from nesting beaches in Japan and Australia have been tracked migrating across the Pacific to feed off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, Peru and Chile, nearly 8,000 miles away. 2 Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceA typical adult green turtle is 3 to 4 feet long and weighs 300 to 350 pounds, with a dark brown, grey or olive colored shell and a much lighter, yellow to white underside. 1 Connections
Associated With
Arribada is the specific term for a mass, synchronized nesting event in species such as the olive ridley and Kemp's ridley sea turtles, a distinctive form of the broader sea turtle nesting migration.
Sources
1. NOAA Fisheries: Green Turtle
Reproduction paragraph, remigration interval
Adults migrate every 2 to 5 years from their coastal foraging areas to the waters off the nesting beaches where they originally hatched to reproduce.
Description paragraph, size and coloration
A typical adult is 3 to 4 feet long and weighs 300 to 350 pounds and they have dark brown, grey, or olive colored shells and a much lighter, yellow-to-white underside.
View the Source2. NOAA Fisheries: Loggerhead Turtle
IntroductionQuote, Introduction
Hatchlings from nesting beaches in Japan and Australia have been tracked migrating across the Pacific to feed off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, Peru and Chile-nearly 8,000 miles away!
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