Turtle nest update from Akumal, Mexico

From the staff of the Turtle Program at Centro Ecológio Akumal:

Turtle season was in full swing when Hurricane Dean hit. As of August 13 we had 74 Loggerhead and 64 Green turtle nests on Akumal’s beaches. In addition, there had been 3,953 Loggerhead and 437 Green turtle hatchlings.

We lost all nests in Akumal, except one in South Akumal. We have six nests that were saved prior to the storm remaining in Styrofoam ice chests, and two of them will be released by August 24, as soon as the waves subside. As we were trying to rescue nests in the days before Dean’s arrival, we were able to help seven nests hatch and all the hatchlings got to sea.

It was difficult to locate some nests as people had moved the markers from their original place. This is why it is so important for visitors and locals to support our work and not create greater obstacles in sea turtle conservation by moving markers, leaving things on the beach at night, or actually disturbing our patrol program with harassment and threats, because of a lack of understanding of how our program operates and why we need to dig to locate some nests and then properly mark them.

There is some good news though: The turtles are beginning to come ashore again, especially in South Akumal and Aventuras Akumal, so we really need everyone to do their part in helping to protect them. If you are visiting the area and come upon a mother turtle nesting, please stay away from her, let her build her nest and lay the eggs. This takes a long time so please leave her alone. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting, and continues to support, turtle protection activities!

To help our efforts, this would be a really good time to please click here to contribute to our Adopt-a-Turtle Program.