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Nile CrocodilesHere's a program from our archives.musicIn the northeastern corner of South Africa lies an expansive wetland known as the St. Lucia Estuary. It's home to thousands of animals, including hippos, birds and crocodiles. This month, St. Lucia's Nile Crocodiles are hatching from their eggs. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.ambience: baby crocodilesWe're listening to the sounds of newly hatched crocodiles. When they grow up, they may be five or six meters in length and weigh up to a ton. But at hatching time, they're just a few inches long.Leslie: It's a real hot day and we're right here watching this female crocodile dig up her hatchlings. And what actually happens is that just prior to hatching, they start making a little chirping sound, such as you can hear now. And the female will hear this from quite a distance, come straight up to her nest and using her front legs, she'll actually dig into her original egg chamber and remove those eggs. One by one. And then take the hatchlings from those eggs down to the water's edge.Allison Leslie heads the St. Lucia Crocodile Research Project, with the support of Drexel University and the Earthwatch Institute. She explains that crocodiles are born with innate survival skills.Leslie: These hatchlings, as tiny as they are, once they hit the water they can swim straight away. They can float quite happily. And in fact within the first ten or fifteen minutes, you might even notice that they start feeding on whatever they can happen to find that crosses their pathway. So really for the size they're at, they are pretty phenomenal little creatures.We'll hear more about St. Lucia's Nile Crocodiles in future programs. We've been listening to a program from our archives. If you want to hear more, check out our podcast. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.