Sea Turtles in Puerto Vallarta

the female sea turtle returns to the ocean. When the eggs hatch about two months later, no adult sea turtles are on hand to ward off predators. Many infant sea turtles fall victim to sea gulls before they even reach the water.

Those lucky few that make it into the sea are hardly home-free. Although they can grow to be quite large and weigh up to 1,300 pounds, they grow very slowly. It can take decades for sea turtles to reach maturity. In the interim, they can be easy prey for larger marine life.

Humans also pose a threat. Sea turtle meat has been considered a delicacy in some cultures for thousands of years. While international conventions prohibit trading in sea turtles, illegal harvesting persists. Sea turtle shells are prized on the black market.

Sea turtles sometimes are unintentionally caught by fishing operations. Sea turtles caught in underwater nets have little chance for survival, since they must surface to breathe.

Mexico makes effort to help

Of course, habitat loss due to development like tourist resorts along beaches also can have a detrimental impact on the number of sea turtles. In Mexico, resorts and the government are well aware of this fact and are taking steps to help improve the survival odds for sea turtles.

Sea turtle “sanctuaries” have sprung up on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Mexico and the National Mexican Turtle Center has been in operation since 1991 near Puerto Angel on the Pacific Coast.

In Puerto Vallarta, resorts and the government have been working together since 1993 to protect sea turtles. Volunteers gather sea turtle eggs from beaches all along the coast and bring them to “corrals” on the resort beaches, where the eggs are protected from natural predators and poachers.

The eggs are checked regularly and at the time of their hatching, they are collected to be released around sundown, when the risk from predators is minimized.

Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa called Dreaming of Freedom with many guests of the resort. Before each received a turtle to release toward the sea, Dreams staff member Antonio La Madrid briefed people on how the process would work.

“Doing the release is very easy, but  need to take a little special care with the turtles,” he said. “First of all, I need everybody to turn off the flash in your cameras. … Why is this? Because the turtles are hatched with their eyes open. These turtles just hatched this morning, so it is very important. If we take a picture with a flash, we can blind them.”

Lights also can disorient the sea turtles, who instinctively move toward the brightest horizon to find the ocean.

He also  instructed to “wash”  hands with sand.

“The turtle needs to smell the sand, so in 10 years or so when it’s ready, it’s going to come back to the same beach and it’s going to lay its eggs on the same beach where she was released,” La Madrid explained.