Every March, the sleepy town of Thai Muang, Thailand, hosts the Turtle Festival. On the fringes of a national park, fair-like grounds spring up, packed with vendors, food and a performance stage. The festival raises awareness of the declining number of egg-laying turtles coming to these local beaches. The nearby Fisheries Department runs a turtle conservation center and hatchery. Each season they collect the eggs laid by the turtles that do come, incubate them, and raise them until they are 60 days old, when they are released back to the sea.

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All told, over 80 young turtles were released into the Andaman Sea. It was pure joy.