You might not think that an urban beach in densely populated Queens would be a natural choice for a critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle to lay her eggs, but last July, for the first time in the recorded history of New York, one lone turtle laid 110 eggs on Far Rockaway peninsula. In September, after about 60 days of incubation, eight dozen, flippered hatchlings emerged from their shells and very, very slowly trundled toward the Atlantic.

Although young Kemp’s ridley turtles have appeared as far north as Nova Scotia, researchers aren’t exactly certain why this turtle mom traveled so far from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico where the rare species usually nests. Some believe that as global waters warm due to climate change, more Kemp’s ridley turtles will migrate beyond their instinctual year-round comfort zone resulting in larger numbers of shell-shocked seasonal strandings as the northern Atlantic rapidly cools in the winter. You can help keep these youngsters safely turtling around by adopting your very own trio of hatchlings from the World Wildlife Fund. And you can find more magnificent reasons to support marine life in these photos from Call of the Blue / Paul Holberton Publishing.