Baby Sea Turtle Release

[SinLA]

I'm taking a last-minute/unexpected trip to Cabo this weekend (thank you Hurricane Lee for cancelling my other plans, lol) and signed up for one of their baby sea turtle releases. Its normally the least desirable time of the year to go to Cabo, apparently, but its the high season for sea turtle babies, so I'm excited! Will post pics and videos next week.

Not sure if anyone else here has ever done this, but would be interested to hear if so...

 

[wellington]

I'm taking a last-minute/unexpected trip to Cabo this weekend (thank you Hurricane Lee for cancelling my other plans, lol) and signed up for one of their baby sea turtle releases. Its normally the least desirable time of the year to go to Cabo, apparently, but its the high season for sea turtle babies, so I'm excited! Will post pics and videos next week.

Not sure if anyone else here has ever done this, but would be interested to hear if so...

How exciting. I haven't released them, but sounds like a great time. Safe travels.

 

[Cathie G]

Wow lucky you!!!!🤗 I love turtles and for those the sea is the best aquarium.🤗

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I've seen nests fenced off at the beaches around here. But I've never seen the actual babies in person

 

[SinLA]

i did the sea turtle release yesterday (species was Olive Ridley) and it was great. the people who are part of the conservation effort on this remote area of Baja are really heroes. They stay up all night watching the beach to try to scare away poachers, because there’s still a big desire for illegal turtle meat and eggs, but as you can imagine some of the poachers are pretty dangerous. Every day from about 8pm to 7am July to November, they are watching the beach for turtles laying the eggs and then they dig up the eggs to put them in a (somewhat) protected area that makes it harder to poach and be preyed upon. All babies are released the same day they hatch. If they hatch during the night they release them right away, if they hatch when there are a lot of seagulls out they wait hold them until dusk (and do it with tourists like me if any have signed up as our fees and tips help support the work they do). You have to have a special license to do this as even touching turtle eggs without one is illegal (but there is minimal enforcement). They can call the authorities if they encounter poaches they can’t handle , but by the time they would arrive, if at all, an entire hatchery can be destroyed. All beaches have public right of way in Mexico so you can’t stop people walking on the beaches and doing things that might hurt the turtles. When beaches at hotels have eggs, they can put a tent around the area and the conservation folks will get them, incubate them, and then bring them back to the same spot for release.

we released around 25, no hands touching them, we used coconut shells to put them down and they are so clearly imprinted to start waddling to the waves, and it was fun to cheer them on to get to the water but also a little heartbreaking to see a few of them struggle to make it, and also to know that almost all of them will just be a low rung on the food chain and not make it to adulthood. But at least these made it to the water which many do not….

 

[NorCal tortoise guy]

So cool!

 

[wellington]

Great pics and video. I was hoping they were cautious about not touching them.
Too bad they can't shoot the poachers! That would be a job I would do for free.
Thanks for sharing

 

[SinLA]

Great pics and video. I was hoping they were cautious about not touching them.
Too bad they can't shoot the poachers! That would be a job I would do for free.
Thanks for sharing

Yeah the only problem is if they have guns then they become a bigger target than the tortoises…

They said a few years ago the navy was stationed to protect the beach and they had almost no poaching that year

They used gloves when moving them from the bucket to peoples “release shells”

 

[TammyJ]

That's great tourism, the kind I like! Look how huge the baby turtles front flippers are, to give them the strength and speed they sorely need to reach the water and as they start life in it! Wonderful!

 

[jeff kushner]

Supercool!

Pics, or we won't believe that it happened! LOL

I love it....folks doing cool stuff!

Enjoy!

 

[SinLA]

Supercool!

Pics, or we won't believe that it happened! LOL

I love it....folks doing cool stuff!

Enjoy!

I posted pics under the Sea Turtles section