That’s a little drastic, but they do protect the babies while they make their way into the water. I went out to watch a release of Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles and it was amazing.

First, they have signs all over the beach that if you see a mother laying eggs in the sand, leave her alone but mark the spot once she leaves. Phone the number on the sign and they’ll send out a team to collect the eggs. They incubate them safely and once they hatch they schedule a release. You can sign up to come and watch.

The turtles use the rising sun as a guide to get them to the ocean, so the release is done very early in the morning before sunrise. The seagulls in the area start to gather around out of curiosity, and the conservationists release them on the beach. They can’t put them directly in the water because they need to imprint on the beach so they know where to return to lay their eggs.

The baby turtles start rushing toward the water and the seagulls see a free meal, however they have people with long poles with banners at the end to keep them from getting too close. Everyone cheered when they reached the water, but that’s just the start for them. Of the roughly 150 turtles released, only 1% of them will survive to reproduce, meaning only 1-2 of them will ever see this beach again.