Watch possibly the largest turtle hatching event in the world

Researchers have captured footage of what may be the world’s largest hatching of turtles in the western Amazon. Millions of South American river turtles (Podocnemis expansa) began to emerge from their nests on the banks of the Guaporé River that flows along the border of Bolivia and Brazil in mid-December. But the hatching process continues through early January. An estimated 80,000 females lay their eggs in September, creating what may be the largest number of freshwater turtles together in one place in the world, involving the largest freshwater turtle in the world. “The annual nesting and hatching of the giant South American river turtle is one Earth’s great natural spectacles,” said Camilla Ferrara in a press release. “It is visually stunning, but also extremely important ecologically to the western Amazon ecosystem.”

Read more at the Wildlife Conservation Society.