Sea turtle hatching cycle (season: August–December)
- Incubation: Female buries 80–120 eggs in warm sand; temperature (warmer = females, cooler = males) controls sex.
- Underground hatching: Hatchlings use an egg-tooth, absorb the yolk sac, and prepare to emerge.
- Night emergence and dash: Hatchlings erupt together at cooler hours, run toward the horizon light and surf—this run imprints a magnetic-spatial memory of the beach.
- Frenzied swimming: They swim nonstop 24–48 hours, guided by currents and Earth’s magnetic field, often sheltering in sargassum.