San Pancho and Turtle News from Ecological Group of Costa Verde Frank D. Smith - Ecological Group of Costa Verde
December 9, 2014

Benefit dinner and music

Hola Volunteers, Supporters and Readers ~

The last nest was placed in the box nursery in mid-November. Since that date, all new nests will be placed in the beach nursery which now contains 17. Also, In mid-November, if hatchlings are available, we will be releasing hatchlings along a quarter mile area in front of town, the release will begin around sunset. Look for our yellow dune buggy.

Total nests placed in the box nursery came to 861. Total nests recorded by the end of November came to 1,212 although, if we had been able to collect nests on Playa Questo, that figure would have been 135 nests higher, which would have made this season the second largest of all time. 214 nests were placed in the beach nursery, 80 relocated on the beach and 52 nests were taken by poachers. By the end of the season we will have released about 87,000 hatchlings.

And the supposed Hawksbill nest hatched but it was not a Hawksbill, just another Olive Ridley, sob!!

November volunteers: Joslin, Starlie and Summer Bertrand, Gale and Lorren all from the USA. Simon Baker from England. Zach Wilson from Australia, and Manuel Murrieta from Mexico. Keep in mind that we are looking for volunteers for next season.

Weather-wise: Daytime temperatures were between the high 70°s to the high 80°s while night time temps were between the low 60°s to the low 70°s. One out of the ordinary weather event happened on the 10th and 11th when (at my house) we received six inches of rain. Normally in November, we would receive zip to half an inch at the most. Total rainfall for November was about 4.33 inches. Total for the year so far is 42.2 inches.

Town and Country-wise: The planters along main street are being removed to make passing easier, which is BS. The planters filled about four feet of the roadway which gave motorists a place to move into allowing others to safely pass them. When removed, the area will be filled by parked cars and trucks which are 6 to 8 feet wide, giving the motorist no place to pass which will lead to real gridlock.

The peso ranged between 13.3 and (13.8 in the last days of November) per dollar, gasoline ranged between 3.75 to (3.35 per gallon in the last days of November).

Through dedicated planning on the part of Manny and Joe Hadlock our marine turtle program experienced its first benefit dinner at Las Huertas Golf Club. About 130 people enjoyed dinner while being entertained by The Eight O’clock Band featuring Joe Hadlock, Tony Kovacic and Dave Fisher. The benefit raised over 18,000 pesos and for that we would like to thank Manny and Joe for their fine work as well as all those who attended the benefit.

While the benefit put us back on our feet, we must continue to raise funds for next season through the sale of the 2015 Homeowners Directory, t-shirts and the donations we receive while releasing hatchings on the beach. If you have not received a Directory, I’ll be at your door step soon, or better yet, come by the nursery and pick one up.

While on the subject of the Homeowners Directory, I need someone from the States to bring down some laser printing cartridges. If you can help or know someone coming down, please e-mail me. Thank you!

From Bill Kirkwood: Regarding our Internet bandwidth. Complaints to Telmex in Mexico City are falling on “deaf” ears. They do not care.  Maybe complaints to the Minister or Secretary of Tourism will help.

Here is the Twitter account for The Secretary of Tourism for Mexico, Claudia Ruiz Massieu:  Tweet: @SECTUR_mx and The Nayarit Director of Tourism, Lic. Raúl Rodrigo Pérez Hernández: Tweet: @_RaulRodrigo or post to his Face Book page at: Raul Rodrigo Perez.

Let’s start a campaign to contact both and complain about how our lack of Internet speed affects tourism. A “tweet” can only be 140 characters. Here is what I was thinking of as a “tweet”: Tourist promotion doesn’t exist in San Francisco Nayarit. Need good Internet to attract tourists Complaints to Telmex have no effect Help! or in Spanish: Promoción turística no existe San Francisco, NAY. Necesita Internet para atraer turistas. Quejas Telmex ningún efecto. Favor ayuda.

See you next month for more news from San Pancho (San Francisco), Riviera Nayarit.

Frank D. Smith, Director
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Tel. 311-258-4100

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