A full moon shines like a spotlight in the cloudless sky above Jekyll Island Georgia The sandy beach is crisscrossed with the tracks of newly hatched loggerhead sea turtles that have crawled from their nests and headed to the ocean Many failed in this endeavor falling prey to hungry seabirds and ghost crabs but hundreds of hatchlings are now swimming with the current their tiny bodies carried 80 miles 129 km from shore toward the
Sargasso Sea Chemical signals inside the turtles brains act as a compass directing the turtles to stay on course The hatchlings swim for three days until they reach a dense carpet of floating seaweed The turtles quickly seek cover beneath the thick canopy poking their heads up for a quick breath every few minutes Small shrimp and mollusks cling to the seaweed providing food for the hungry hatchlings whose tiny jaws snatch their first meals
