Caught on Tape: Baby Turtles Take to Sea

(CBS)  Newborn loggerhead turtles were captured on a live streaming "turtle webcam" emerging from their nest and crawling to the ocean in the lower Florida Keys, reports CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami.

The footage was shot on Tuesday night and appeared on the Florida Keys Web site Thursday.

Cameras equipped with infrared emitters to film in darkness were focused on three loggerhead nests since early August. They finally caught the hatchlings emerging from the third nest after problems with the first two.

Loggerhead, green, leatherback, hawksbill and Kemp's Ridley sea turtles nest on beaches in the Florida Keys or inhabit regional waters. All five species are considered threatened or endangered, reports WFOR.

The turtles nest on the beach early spring through the early fall, depositing about 100 ping-pong-sized eggs in each nest. The incubation time is about two months before the babies hatch and make their way to the sea.

Local Video from CBS 4 in Miami

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