Collecting eggs from the sea turtles’ natural nest for relocation, decreases hatching success rates from 90% in natural nests to 50 – 70% in hatcheries.

According to the Sea Turtle Conservancy, cooler sand has a tendency to produce more males, with warmer sand producing females. The potentially higher temperatures in our hatcheries, due to overcrowding, may produce an unnaturally high ratio of females to males, which overall affects with the survival of the species.

As soon as hatchlings are born, entering the sea should be allowed without interference. Many existing commercial hatcheries in Sri Lanka do not provide these conditions; they keep the hatchlings in cement tanks for weeks during tourist season.

Keeping hatchlings in small tanks, swimming in circles for days or weeks, consumes their stored energy and makes them weak. After they’re eventually released, the energy they would have to swim out to the deep ocean and survive predators, is low.

In addition to the generally weakened state of captive hatchlings, some hatcheries don’t regularly change the tank water, leading to the spread of diseases due to unhygienic conditions. On top of that, most commercial hatcheries allow tourists to touch the hatchlings, which further increases the risk of contamination and disease.

Sea turtles have an imprinting mechanism when they hatch, helping them return to their natal beach to lay their own eggs someday. However, being in tanks and swimming in circles, instead of freed during that critical stage, will likely disrupt imprinting.

Hatchlings who survive the tank are usually released out to sea by the tourists who pay the hatchery to do this! Unfortunately this happens mostly during the daylight hours or in places with artificial lighting – both situations disorient and adversely affect the hatchlings.

Today, nearly all species of sea turtles are classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List High, but demand from the tourism sector abets the continued operation of commercial turtle hatcheries that do more harm than good. Though ethical and not-for-profit turtle hatcheries can contribute to real turtle conservation, we do not see any such efforts amongst the current commercial operations in Sri Lanka.