Riding the Kuroshio Current to the Pacific Ocean! The Great Adventure of the Hatchlings

The eggs found on July 17 are now incubating in a corner of Tojo Beach.

When the babies emerge from the sand, they will be only about four centimeters in length (shell length). They will head out to the sea together, all at once, carrying on their backs small, leaf-like shells.

“The moment when we send them out to the sea is always moving. The turtles are all walking along the beach, flapping their flippers, being pushed by waves much bigger than them many times," says Yoshimura. “And yet they keep fighting back, and eventually, one by one, they disappear in the waves. I always wonder how such small hatchlings can live on their own.”

Only a few thousandths of a percent make it to adulthood. Once out at sea, the hatchlings ride the Kuroshio Current across the Pacific Ocean and to the coast of North America. It is said that some return to Japan.

“If we see them again in Japanese waters, it will be 10 years from now, maybe longer,” reveals Yoshimura. “Male sea turtles spend their entire lives in the ocean, and only the females come ashore. It would be great if the mothers of these turtles return to Tojo Beach someday.”