Their instinctive location of the sea is based on their attraction to the light reflected off the sea. This instinct, however, may well be the downfall of the turtles. Female turtles are shy, and lights and movement at night will affect their laying. If the female turtle is unable to find a suitable beach and retains her eggs too long, they will be disposed of into the sea to perish. Once the hatchlings reach the sea new enemies face them there.
Many nests also perish by being covered by waves.
For thousands of years, however, sufficient numbers of hatchlings reached the sea and survived to keep a stable population. In view of the turtles' demise active conservation measures were initiated in Cyprus with the Lara Turtle Conservation Project. At the Lara station nests are collected and transferred to the hatchery, which is a fenced off part of the beach, where they are reburied and protected from foxes. The eggs are buried at the right depth as sex determination in turtles is dependent on the incubation temperature. Incubation at 29-30 degrees C results in half the hatchlings being male and the other half female.