My eyes have seen the small heads of baby sea turtles break through the surface of their nest to begin their long journey throughout life. This experience has given me so much clarity in my life and I can't wait to bring back my enthusiasm for these amazing and majestic creatures.
Marta and I arrived to the sea turtle reserve on Tuesday night. We are split up into groups and everyday constantly have someone patrolling the beach, looking for turtles that are nesting or nests that are hatching. The day shifts usually have no turtles, that's why the night shifts are my favorite. We look at three beaches, Real, Onda, and Jesus. These are the beaches that the turtles usually go to lay their eggs and where the most sightings are. This past week, I have been on three night shifts - which have been three of the most amazing experiences of my life. The first night, two minutes after arriving on Playa de Jesus, we found a nest and guided baby sea turtles down to the water. There are no words to express the joy felt in my heart when I saw the first baby sea turtle being swept up by a wave, the start to a life out in the mysterious ocean, a journey that one could never experience through the same lens. This experience also showed me how fragile these species are and because sea turtles are at risk to so many different elements of the world, we need to change the perception of them. Here, many tourists come to see the turtles, but one thing that I notice is that they have no respect for the animal, they have no respect for the 'being' within these amazing creatures. I am lucky enough to have interacted with these creatures first hand and understand the consciousness that thrives within them. They are a being just like us, with a purpose and a meaning, but unfortunately they are perceived as an object that can be used for human entertainment.
I saw baby turtles both nights after that as well, but the most amazing experience was to see the large 'mama' turtle come up on the beach and build her nest. I have seen three so far, but one did not lay her nest because there were so many tourists that she became stressed and left. Building a nest for baby sea turtles is quite a chore, sometimes it can take up to 2 hours for a mother to complete her nest. First, she digs the body chamber and then the egg chamber. It is such a process for such a small outcome. The mother usually lays around 80-100 eggs, but only about 30-40 turtles hatch, and of that only about 5% actually make it out into the ocean in live into adulthood. It really opens your eyes to the risks that these animals face everyday.
The other day we found baby turtles hatching during the day. Here on the Pacific coast it can get up to 105 degrees during the day, giving no chance to the sea turtle hatchlings to make it to the ocean, most of the time they die of exhaustion before they even make it out of the nest if it is during the day. To prevent this, we brought the sea turtles back to the house and kept them there until the evening. It was so amazing to see them and interact with them and it made me even happier when I saw these turtles we had been nurturing for a day make it to the ocean, it was very emotional for me.
One of the most frustrating things is the tourists. They don't understand the boundaries that a turtle needs, that they need space in order to live in a stress-free environment. I understand that seeing a turtle is amazing, but there needs to be a balance between humans and nature, and it's not natural for the turtles to be crowded around, being suffocated by the blinding flash of cameras, and constantly being in a state of stress. Most of the tourists speak English, so I try to explain to them the sense of boundary, which seems to be helping, but human curiosity often takes over.
There is also so much wildlife here - so many different species of birds and animals. We saw a Coati the other day - which was amazing! I love it here so much.
Monday and Tuesday are my last days at the reserve. On Wednesday Marta and I will be traveling back to San José and staying there for two days, waiting for our flights. I am sad that this incredible journey is coming to an end, but also excited to bring back everything that I have learned to my community in Durango.
Marta and I arrived to the sea turtle reserve on Tuesday night. We are split up into groups and everyday constantly have someone patrolling the beach, looking for turtles that are nesting or nests that are hatching. The day shifts usually have no turtles, that's why the night shifts are my favorite. We look at three beaches, Real, Onda, and Jesus. These are the beaches that the turtles usually go to lay their eggs and where the most sightings are. This past week, I have been on three night shifts - which have been three of the most amazing experiences of my life. The first night, two minutes after arriving on Playa de Jesus, we found a nest and guided baby sea turtles down to the water. There are no words to express the joy felt in my heart when I saw the first baby sea turtle being swept up by a wave, the start to a life out in the mysterious ocean, a journey that one could never experience through the same lens. This experience also showed me how fragile these species are and because sea turtles are at risk to so many different elements of the world, we need to change the perception of them. Here, many tourists come to see the turtles, but one thing that I notice is that they have no respect for the animal, they have no respect for the 'being' within these amazing creatures. I am lucky enough to have interacted with these creatures first hand and understand the consciousness that thrives within them. They are a being just like us, with a purpose and a meaning, but unfortunately they are perceived as an object that can be used for human entertainment.
I saw baby turtles both nights after that as well, but the most amazing experience was to see the large 'mama' turtle come up on the beach and build her nest. I have seen three so far, but one did not lay her nest because there were so many tourists that she became stressed and left. Building a nest for baby sea turtles is quite a chore, sometimes it can take up to 2 hours for a mother to complete her nest. First, she digs the body chamber and then the egg chamber. It is such a process for such a small outcome. The mother usually lays around 80-100 eggs, but only about 30-40 turtles hatch, and of that only about 5% actually make it out into the ocean in live into adulthood. It really opens your eyes to the risks that these animals face everyday.
The other day we found baby turtles hatching during the day. Here on the Pacific coast it can get up to 105 degrees during the day, giving no chance to the sea turtle hatchlings to make it to the ocean, most of the time they die of exhaustion before they even make it out of the nest if it is during the day. To prevent this, we brought the sea turtles back to the house and kept them there until the evening. It was so amazing to see them and interact with them and it made me even happier when I saw these turtles we had been nurturing for a day make it to the ocean, it was very emotional for me.
One of the most frustrating things is the tourists. They don't understand the boundaries that a turtle needs, that they need space in order to live in a stress-free environment. I understand that seeing a turtle is amazing, but there needs to be a balance between humans and nature, and it's not natural for the turtles to be crowded around, being suffocated by the blinding flash of cameras, and constantly being in a state of stress. Most of the tourists speak English, so I try to explain to them the sense of boundary, which seems to be helping, but human curiosity often takes over.
There is also so much wildlife here - so many different species of birds and animals. We saw a Coati the other day - which was amazing! I love it here so much.
Monday and Tuesday are my last days at the reserve. On Wednesday Marta and I will be traveling back to San José and staying there for two days, waiting for our flights. I am sad that this incredible journey is coming to an end, but also excited to bring back everything that I have learned to my community in Durango.