Local newspapers have reported that there was an almost record count of turtles nesting in the area this past weekend. An article in the Despertar de la Costa reported that more than 120 sea turtles of the Lepidochelys olivacea species (Olive Ridley, in Mexico known as the Golfina) arrived on Saturday night to our area, with the greatest concentration beaching at Buena Vista, just north of Ixtapa, to lay their eggs in the sand. This tremendous activity allowed the biologists and caretakers that man local turtle protection camps to collect more than 5,000 turtle eggs.
Under the marine turtle protection program of the Mexican Ministry of Ecology and the Environment, these eggs are transplanted from the original nests into protected pens that are overseen by biologists who study the nesting habits and care for the eggs during their incubation period (more or less 2 months) so that they are not destroyed by predators. There are turtle camps installed all along the Guerrero coastline. Many of the hotels on the beaches within Zihuatanejo Bay and along Ixtapa’s shoreline have also set up turtle egg collection pens to protect the thousands of eggs that are laid every year by turtles who return season after season to the place of their own hatching, to repeat the cycle. In our area, the greatest egg-laying and hatching activity seem to occur between August and December. You can often come across and participate in baby turtle releases at sunset along our beaches during this period.
Sea Turtle
Baby turtles and unhatched eggs are prey to many different predators and even though tens and hundreds of thousands may be deposited along Mexico’s coastlines, it is calculated that only a very small percentage is lucky enough to survive long enough to repeat the reproductive cycle. Unfortunately, one of the major predators of turtle eggs is still the human poacher, and I saw a sorry illustration of this fact this past weekend. While walking La Ropa beach in the not-so-early morning, there was a man blatantly digging up a turtle nest and bagging the eggs right in front of one of the hotel egg nesting pens. Fortunately the hotel staff was apprised of the act and the egg cache was confiscated so it could be buried in the protective pen. I am not aware if the man was reprimanded in any way, but he certainly was left with his hands empty.
