Upon hitting the Makapuu shoreline on a warm fall evening, dozens of Hawaiian baby green sea turtles instinctively scramble as fast as their little flippers will take them toward the ocean.

Once they hit the saltwater, their flippers become like wings, taking them on a flight through the ocean — and their first taste of freedom.

Every year, sea turtle hatchlings go through this nighttime ritual.

What makes this latest batch of turtles different from others is that they were bred in an artificial lagoon right across the street at Sea Life Park.

The park is home to 15 Hawaiian green sea turtles — 10 female and five male — ages 15 to 72. It claims to be the only marine park in the country actively breeding baby sea turtles in captivity and releasing them on a regular basis.

The most recent release took place in late October, with 55 hatchlings, and will likely be the last of the year.

That brings the tally to about 474 hatchlings released this year, according to Sea Life Park curator Jeff Pawloski.

The sea turtle breeding program happened by chance, he said. The turtle lagoon at the park was built in 1964, with a small, shallow beach that wasn’t anticipated to be acceptable for egg laying. But a few years later, the park discovered baby turtles emerging from their shells on the sand.

It was completely unexpected, according to Pawloski.

With advice from turtle expert George Balazs, the marine animals were released into the ocean at the small beach across from the park. Since then, anywhere between 200 to 800 baby hatchlings have been released annually.

Every hatchling is tagged with a microchip that allows scientists to track its development and journey.

"Every turtle here has its own story to tell," Pawloski said.

BREEDING season starts in April and runs until September — providing a risque show for park visitors. Female turtles nest every other year, laying several clutches with up to 100 eggs at a time. The eggs incubate for about 60 days.

Pawloski said the park isn’t so much focused on breeding turtles as on educating the public about the creatures and the threats they face from entanglement in fishing lines, getting hit by boats and ingesting plastic debris in the ocean. In addition, the turtles face habitat loss and natural predators, such as sharks.

Turtles in the wild also suffer from fibropapillomatosis, which results in tumor growth in the flippers, head and neck areas. The babies bred at Sea Life Park have been free from the tumor-causing virus.

The green sea turtle population underwent a steep decline in the 1970s due to the direct harvest of turtles and eggs by humans. In 1978, the turtles were listed as "threatened" and received protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Today, scientists say their population is actually on the rise in Hawaii.

"Our program is about raising awareness and not repopulating the wild," Pawloski said. "We’re just a drop in the bucket."

Balazs estimates that over a 35-year period, the park has released more than 12,000 baby sea turtles into Hawaii’s waters.

A few are kept at the park until they grow into juveniles of between 2 to 5 years old. Sea Life Park also has an educational loan program that sends baby turtles to the Maui Ocean Center and Mauna Lani Resort for display until they are old enough to be released.

Sea Life Park consults with Balazs, who leads the marine turtle research program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Marine Fisheries Service, on the care and release of the baby turtles.

Usually, they are measured for length and weight, tagged with microchips, and within 24 to 48 hours of hatching released at water’s edge as the sun is about to set, mimicking their natural cycle as much as possible.

Balazs says the park plays a major role in the conservation of Hawaiian green sea turtles, primarily through its education efforts, but its release of hatchlings into the ocean helps, too.

Even more rewarding for the park, though, is preliminary evidence the hatchlings may be returning to beaches in the main Hawaiian isles as grown sea turtles to nest.