Lalabye Baby: Simply Convenient Modern Cloth Diapers

The Costa Collection is now complete with the addition of Pura Vida: a gorgeous, ocean aqua colored diaper with a variety of gently floating sea turtles adorning the surface in white silhouette. The name of this final release Pura Vida (pronounced POO-rah VEE-dah) literally translates to: “Pure Life,” and the Costa Rican colloquial meaning of the name refers to the mindset that “this is life!”

The phrase similarly means “life is good,” “take it easy,” “it’s all good,” and a reminder to “enjoy life!” That no matter what you have going on in your life, guaranteed, it’s better than someone else’s; be thankful for that. It’s time to stop worrying or complaining over the little things and start living with grace and a thankful heart.

So what does that have to do with sea turtles?

 

As #lalabyemama (and local expert on sea turtles) Sara J. said, “when you think of these beautiful beaches and clear waters where sea turtles nest and make their homes, it brings to mind purity, peace, tranquility: all of the things we want our lives to be. Pure living.”

In Costa Rica

Costa Rica is home to four turtle species: leatherback, green, hawksbill, and olive ridley.

 

The Osa peninsula in Costa Rica is a haven for foraging and nesting beaches for sea turtles in the area. The Osa peninsula is extremely special because it “harbors 2.5% of the biodiversity of the ENTIRE PLANET in less than a thousandth of a percent of it’s total surface area!”

You can likely see sea turtles nesting or hatching in Costa Rica no matter what time of year you go, but don’t be like these people and get in the way- respect the wildlife! Save the turtles! Nearly all species of sea turtle are classified as Endangered.

 

A large number of sea turtles often come ashore to nest all at once, perhaps to intimidate and deter predators from eating their eggs. A huge bale of sea turtles arriving to nest is called an arribadas.

 

Sea Turtle Fun Facts

Sea turtles can remain submerged underwater for up to 5 hours! They slow their heart rate to conserve oxygen: nine minutes may elapse between heartbeats!

They can raise their internal body temperatures to be about 18 degrees higher than that of the water where they are swimming.

Sea turtles can’t retract their head or appendages into their shells. Their shells also do not vary in pattern within a species- they are not like unique fingerprints. The shell patterns do vary, however, between different species.

They eat varied diets including jellyfish, seaweed, crabs, shrimp, sponges, snails, algae, sea grass, and mollusks.

Some sea turtles (especially males) can live hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from shore for several years at a time, sometimes for their entire lives!

 

Sea turtles are very graceful in the water but extremely sluggish on land.

 

Mamas & Babies

Each nest contains anywhere from 75-130 eggs, but sometimes up to half will be yolk-less/sterile.

A female sea turtle will nest 4-6 times in a single season, roughly 2 weeks apart, and then she won’t nest again for 2-3 years! The frequency of nesting is possible because the female can store the male’s contribution to the mating process inside her body for several years at a time!

The temperature of the sand when they incubate in the nest will determine whether the nest of babies are male, female, or a mix of both!

You may already know that some species of sea turtles return to the very beach where they hatched to lay their own eggs. What you may not know is that they use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate back home!

It sometimes takes the babies a week to dig themselves out of the nest after they hatch, then they scramble like the dickens towards the water at night to avoid being eaten by waiting sea birds and other predators.

 

 

Be sure to grab this limited print while you can!

 

The Costa Collection may now be complete, but the prints (Birds of a Feather, La Ranita, Sarchí, and Pura Vida) will only be around while supplies last! The fabric has been exhausted, and these prints won’t be coming back again once they sell out, so don’t wait!

 

Fun facts gathered from resources here, here, and here, and from interviewing our very own #lalabyemama Sara J., who works as a marine life conservationist as the Registrar and Administrative Assistant for the Discovery Hall Programs at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and as a volunteer as a Team Leader working to conserve sea turtle nesting sites through Share the Beach. ♥