Conservationists from the Leatherback Trust, an international non-profit conservation organization that protects leatherback turtles and other sea turtle species from extinction, recently released rare drone footage of a female olive ridley swimming away from a beach in Costa Rica.

The nesting event was filmed in Las Baulas National Park, located in the Playa Grande sector of the Guanacaste province. Las Baulas is a protected nesting sanctuary for the large and endangered leatherback sea turtles, although the much smaller Pacific olive ridleys also enjoy nesting here.

What makes the drone footage shared by the Leatherback Trust so rare is that it was captured on a gorgeous, sunny day. For the most part, olive ridleys (also known as “golfinas” in Guanacaste) and most other sea turtles are extremely nocturnal when it comes to nesting; for this reason, many beaches in Costa Rica prohibit artificial lighting near the coastline.

About two weeks ago, the Leatherback Trust was present at the 13th annual Baulas Festival in Costa Rica. The main street of Playa Grande was filled as the festivities were kicked off by a parade, where the children from Playa Grande, Matapalo and other communities from beyond Guanacaste marched with mascot Toño Pizote (the equivalent of Smokey Bear in Costa Rica), along with live music and dancing. They were joined by The Leatherback Trust’s student group from Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The festival was organized by Rotney Piedra, the Administrator of Las Baulas National Park, and Elizabeth Vélez, of Kuemar, and sponsored by The Leatherback Trust.

The video below is from February 18th: