Sea Turtle Hatching Program

[Dan F]

Poachers IMO catch more than enough yes..they absolutely disgust me.
But just curiousity, not critisism, if all eggs were to be taken what happens to the predators relying on a small percentage of the turtles for feeding at this time of year?

Or are some of the eggs left?

I think nests are most likely missed occasionally, but for the most part they collect all the eggs on this beach.

I would belive that some must be lefit, the hotel staff won't be able to discover them all...

And even if they did, a mile down the coast there will still be enough for all the preds..

Yep, including the human ones. These eggs were in a lobster fisherman's fridge. He said he always hides the nest (after taking six or eight eggs...)

 

[Ben268]

You are correct, they're Olive Ridley's, known locally as "Caguamas".

The beach (Playa la Ropa) has unfortunately been built up very heavily in the past ten years and it's pretty amazing that the turtles still come there at all. While snorkeling about a mile away from the beach we came across a dead adult turtle with two huge prop gashes across his back - Cruise ships visit the bay daily...

Luckily there are many undeveloped beaches nearby, for now there are still a lot of turtles out there.

Depends on the turtle species your talking about though...poor loggerheads.

 

[reptech]

i wish i could have one

 

[Eleven Bravo]

Happy to see them hatched, and free!

 

[andyjs]

i wish i could have one

Yeah, that would be cool. If I had room for a 50,000 gallon tank, I'd love to have one-if they were even available legally.

I'm glad people do stuff like this. I'm sure the predators still get their share when the sun comes up the next day. Like he said, they still get about 95% of the turtles...

I remember reading about a teacher in the Columbus area a few years ago who found some "dud" turtle eggs while vacationing in Florida. She brought them back to share with her class, but was sure surprised after she left them at home for a day and came home to her kitchen floor crawling with sea turtles. She at least tried to do the right thing then and took them to the Columbus Zoo (where they were held until they were thought to be healthy, then shipped to Florida and released), but she still got in a LOT of trouble

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Dan, what does it entail with being part of this? Is it like a tourist eco tour program of some sort? Cost anything to sign up? If so how much?

 

[Dan F]

Dan, what does it entail with being part of this? Is it like a tourist eco tour program of some sort? Cost anything to sign up? If so how much?

We heard about it from some people at our hotel (not the one releasing the turtles - it was called "the Tides") and just walked up at releasing time. It was free, just walk up and pick up a turtle or two!

 

[krichardson]

These poachers,are they taking them to be sold as food or as pets? I would think that someone somewhere would let them grow a little bigger before releasing to give them a better chance in the sea.

 

[Dan F]

These poachers,are they taking them to be sold as food or as pets? I would think that someone somewhere would let them grow a little bigger before releasing to give them a better chance in the sea.

They are taken to be eaten

There are other programs that raise the turtles for a few weeks and then release them in the open ocean, but there are questions as to whether this helps or hurts the survival rate...

 

[woofy]

squirt so totally rocks

thats a nice story, i wish they did more here for sea turtles here they think tape on 4 poles around a nest on a crowded beach is really gonne stop anyone