Swimming up to 200 miles per day, both males and females return to mate in offshore waters. Females then crawl ashore, where they dig a hole and lay about 100 ping pong ball-sized eggs about two feet below the surface of the sand. Females lay up to six clutches over the course of the summer nesting season and then skip a few years before returning to the beach to nest again. The green turtles that graze off the coast of Brazil embark on the most spectacular voyage of all. They swim about 1,200 miles through the open ocean to nest on Ascension Island, which lies roughly halfway between Brazil and Africa.
Sea turtles can raise their heads only a few inches out of the water and have poor vision.
Even if they could see well, few landmarks exist in the open ocean. So Excellent a Fishe . Studies of hatchlings are now revealing how green turtles perform such feats of navigation. They re in a frenzy they pop out of their nests, run to the water, and swim like crazy. The hatchlings need to be fast because the two-minute dash to the sea is short but perilous.