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Summary Mexican conservationists in Oaxaca released some 4,100 baby turtles into the sea.
Conservationists in Oaxaca release some 4,100 endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles into the wild on Mexicos Pacific coast after their eggs are hatched in incubators.Navy officers gathered on the beach in Salina Cruz in the state of Oaxaca on Monday to help school children release thousands of endangered Olive Ridley turtles back into the wild.The turtles eggs were hatched in incubators after they were extracted from their nests by the Mexican Navy in order to protect the eggs from looters.Hundreds of thousands of Olive Ridley turtles usually land on Oaxacas Pacific beaches as part of an annual egg-laying migration.The eggs are a traditional part of the diet on Oaxacas sweltering coastal plains, where markets openly display them alongside turtle meat, despite laws prohibiting their sale.As the time came to release the turtles, the gathered school children placed them on the sand and then cheered as the turtles trudged across the sand and into the sea.Martinez said about 8,000 turtles have been released into the wild in 2011 and by the end of the year 12,000 turtles wouldve been released.Named for its olive green carapace, or shell, the Olive Ridley sea turtle has been listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union since 1986 because of declining numbers.Once slaughtered in their hundreds of thousands for meat and leather, omnivorous Olive Ridleys have yet to recover from centuries of overexploitation.The small turtles have been spotted by ships far out to sea and they return to the same beaches each year to lay and bury in the sand up to 100 eggs each.
