Incubation period has a range of 6 to 13 weeks after the nesting, depending on the incubation temperatures. This period depends on the species of turtle and on the environmental conditions at a particular place and time. When it is time to hatch, the embryos break the shell of the egg with a hard structure present at the anterior part of the face and climb free of the shell. Once out of the eggs, hatchlings start moving immediately. This movement allows them to remove the sand on top of them, which moves downward at the same time they crawl up.
Hatchlings get out of the nest mostly at night or during the early hours of the morning to avoid heat and predators. After getting out of the nests they have to crawl to sea, a period that is very critical due to the great number of possible predators that might be waiting for them. During the night, the sky is brighter above the sea than it is above land, and this is supposed to be the main orienting factor for hatchlings trying to reach the sea, although they might also get some orientation from the sound of the waves and the inclination of the beach. There are estimates that for every one thousand hatchlings that reach the sea only one makes it to adulthood.
Once they reach the sea, males remain there for the rest of their lives, while females will come back to their home beach when it is time for them to nest, thus initiating once more this incredible cycle of life.
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