00:04Leatherback sea turtles are in trouble with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
00:08reporting that there are likely only around 25,000 of them left in the wild. Now conservationists in
00:14Thailand are trying to combat their dwindling numbers. Leatherback sea turtles are only
00:19recently returning to southern Thailand for their annual egg laying. Each season they are expected
00:23to lay upwards of 25 eggs. However most don't survive to mate and lay eggs themselves. With
00:29the senior fishery biologist at Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources
00:33saying about it quote 0.1 to 0.2 percent is the survival rate of leatherback turtle hatchlings
00:39making it to adulthood. If 100 eggs hatch from a single nest we'd need 10 just for one or two
00:45turtles to survive to adulthood. That's why they're now releasing 11 baby leatherbacks into the wild
00:50after they were rescued. Each one tagged with a satellite tracker with the researchers hopeful
00:54that they will survive and that scientists can glean some data that will aid in conservation efforts.
00:59Specifically they are looking at leatherback sea turtle travel routes, possibly eventually
01:03opening protective corridors for the creatures. Thailand is one of only five countries that have
01:08been able to successfully nurse baby leatherback sea turtles up to their first year.
