CA red-legged frog tadpoles hatching out of egg masses

California red-legged frog tadpoles in Baja California, Mexico, begin their next phase of life as they begin to hatch out of their egg masses. Upon hatching, the tadpoles cling to their egg gelatin casing and forage on algae that has grown on them in the two weeks since the eggs were laid. Before eggs could be collected and transported from Mexico to the United States, a field team led by the Ensenada-based non-profit organization Fauna del Noroeste (FAUNO) and the San Diego Natural History Museum conducted weekly surveys to ensure that a sufficient number of eggs had successfully hatched in Mexico.