(EFE).- Thousands of sea turtles are arriving in the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast to nest, guide Yamilet Baltodano told EFE Tuesday.

“We estimate that between 98,000 and 100,000 turtles have arrived, with the ones coming to nest reaching here as hatchlings emerge from eggs,” Baltodano said.

This is the second large wave of nesting turtles this year, following the arrival of 98,400 olive ridley sea turtles in September, when the animals laid eggs for four days, the refuge said.

“The turtles are arriving year-round. The time when they come in the greatest numbers is between September and November,” Baltodano said.

The government has established strict regulations for visitors to the refuge, which was created in 1983 to protect the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), one of the six sea turtle species in Costa Rica’s waters.

The olive ridley sea turtle, which can measure up to 70 centimeters (28 inches) long and weigh as much as 100 kilos (220 pounds), is not at risk of extinction but faces threats that range from indiscriminate fishing to the accumulation of trash in the ocean to nest-raiding by people who eat or sell the eggs.

Each year, thousands of olive ridley sea turtles, also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, return to the beach where they were hatched to lay eggs, a spectacle that attracts scores of tourists.

Visitors are often on hand to watch what locals call “La arribada” (the arrival), when turtles crawl up the beach, find an ideal nesting place and lay their eggs.

Each turtle can lay between 80 and 120 eggs, of which about 1 percent will survive predators, including the poachers who sell turtle meat and eggs.

Refuge regulations limit the number of visitors in each turtle-watching group to 10, including the guide, and lights are prohibited on the beach because they can disorient turtles.

Camera flashes, artificial lights and cell phones are also banned on the refuge’s beaches when turtles are nesting at night. EFE