00:00Nobody knows why the Olive Ridley sea turtles choose this particular beach,
00:07but they've been coming here for eons.
00:10People who live nearby call it the Arribada.
00:14What does Arribada mean?
00:16It actually means arrival in Spanish.
00:19So basically all these turtles are arriving at the same time.
00:23Not all turtle species do this.
00:25They don't do it on all beaches, but Chacocente is one of the places that this happens.
00:29About two months after the Arribada,
00:34all the eggs that have survived start to hatch.
00:38It's an amazing sight,
00:43and every one of these tiny hatchlings is critical for the survival of their species.
00:50Unfortunately for the turtles,
00:55a big part of the culture and economy in this impoverished area traditionally revolved around consuming sea turtle eggs.
01:05For some, it's a matter of survival.
01:08To help the sea turtles and the community,
01:11the SeaWorld Bush Gardens Conservation Fund teamed up with a conservation group called Fauna and Flora International
01:18to get boots on the ground in Nicaragua and help the turtles.
01:23The project aims to protect sea turtles.
01:26But to protect sea turtles off the treads they have, you have to work with the people.
01:32In this case, that means giving locals a financial incentive not to eat and sell turtle eggs.
01:40The project actually employs these villagers, allowing them a way to make a living helping the sea turtles.
01:47SeaWorld sends turtle experts Yaritza Aponte and Julie Scardina to spread the word and change hearts and minds.
01:58Julie meets with local rescuers who have collected thousands of hatchlings that were in danger.
02:04This little guy, along with about 2,000 other little hatchlings here, came out a little bit too early.
02:11They were worried that there would be too many predators so they collected up a couple of thousands of hatchlings
02:18and tonight we're going to get a chance to let them go.
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