The extraordinary comeback of the endangered loggerhead

On Conca beach, in Malgrat de Mar, an extraordinary natural wonder has been taking place over the last few days. Dozens of endangered turtles are being hatched each night in the sand. As soon as they pop out of their eggs, they begin their long journey to reach the sea.

At least 56 hatched on Wednesday night.

The turtles are loggerheads, an endangered species protected by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

An adult female came ashore to lay her eggs about 40 days ago without anyone observing her.

"This is a rare and unusual event," says a spokesman for the Conservation and Recovery of Marine Animals (CRAM). The organization is keeping watch and protecting the nesting area until all the eggs are hatched in the coming days.

The first hatchings occurred on Friday night but it wasn't until Saturday when conservation authorities were advised by observers who saw the young turtles struggling to reach the sea.

Beach goers and construction along the Mediterranean have scared off the female loggerheads from nesting on the Spanish coastline as they did more than a century ago but they still appear infrequently in Catalonia. In 2006, 40 hatchlings were observed in Premià de Mar.