Emerging from the darkness, slimy nails break through the murky barrier, reaching towards the light. Thunder rumbles as the ground cracks.
This is not a scene from a horror film featuring the undead rising from their graves. Rather, it showcases one of nature’s most endearing spectacles, Parent-child relationship: a forthcoming BBC series exploring the struggles of nurturing the next generation of wildlife, specifically the hatching of the magnificent Amazon River Turtle in Guapoi, South Brazil.
According to Sir David Attenborough’s narration, the tiny turtles await the perfect conditions to break free. When rain falls, it softens the sand enough for them to dig their way out. If there’s insufficient rain, the layer of sand above becomes too baked in the sun. They are numerous, making their survival seem effortless.
“There’s always that anxiety. You never know how it will turn out,” says series producer Elizabeth Orcham to BBC Science Focus. “As we sit with the crew, we hope everything works. The moment it rains or doesn’t rain, the tension rises. Is it too much rain?”
The rain arrived early during the filming, but the turtles managed to emerge just in time. “Seeing most of the turtles succeed and not lose too many is really comforting. It’s just wonderful.”
Despite the challenges posed by the weather, two million turtles hatched successfully, overcoming what seemed like insurmountable odds.
“Sometimes, it’s a wonder how they survive. It’s fascinating to see just how clumsy they can be,” she notes.
This clumsiness, however, is part of a finely tuned process. Scientists have been investigating communication among these turtles for over a decade. A 2014 study found that mothers likely communicate with their hatchlings to guide them into the water. According to Oakham, this is the only turtle species known to exhibit parental care post-hatching.
The team even managed to capture charming moments featuring the hatchlings helping each other dig out.
“We were thrilled to showcase this new research on turtle communication,” Oakham explains. The filmmakers even accessed the nest to record the hatchlings’ emergence.
Childcare challenges
Climate change poses the greatest threat to the otherwise stable lifecycle of the giant Amazon River turtle.
“Warmer air due to climate change retains more moisture, leading to two outcomes,” she elaborates. “Firstly, it makes the environment drier, but when it finally rains, the moisture simply drips off.”
Severe floods that once occurred every 20 years have now happened twice in the last five years, jeopardizing the hatching process during critical seasons.
Before hatching, the turtles must absorb some of their yolk sac. If they haven’t done so before floods arrive, they will not survive. Thus, when mother turtles lay eggs, they risk a significant gamble regarding the weather – a gamble that is increasingly hard to predict.
They typically lay their eggs two to three months before the rainy season, allowing the sand to solidify and form a protective layer. At this time, the mothers leave the river for the sandbanks, coinciding with the largest congregation of freshwater turtles on the planet, and one of the few instances the species ventures onto land.
“Water can be life-sustaining but also perilous,” Oakham states. “With climate change, this duality has become even more pronounced, making the environment more unpredictable for these parents. Navigating this uncertainty while caring for their young is a delicate balance.”
This episode is the fourth in a five-part series on parental life in freshwater habitats, Parent-child relationship. All five episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer from August 3, 2025.
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About our experts
Elizabeth Orcum is a producer and director with a deep commitment to environmental storytelling and natural history. She is widely recognized for her work on the fifth episode of Green Planet, titled “The Human World,” which delivers a compelling narrative on the interconnectedness of plants and humans. She is now eager to share the stories of animal parents worldwide through the BBC series Parent-child relationship.
Source: www.sciencefocus.com
