San Pancho and Turtle News from Costa Verde Ecological Group Frank D. Smith - Ecological Group of Costa Verde | |
February 1, 2017 |
Hola Volunteers, Supporters and Readers ~
To date this season, over 652 nests have been recorded, with sixty-six left on the beach to hatch naturally, while the poachers made off with thirty-three nests. By the end of January, a little over 50,000 hatchlings were released at an all time high survival rate of 88.2%. On Saturday the 14th, the last nest hatched, so there will no hatchlings released until around mid-August.
Some good news: The poacher that hacked up the head of a nesting turtle while she was nesting was run out of town with several warrants for his arrest chasing him. I do not think he will return. Another poacher, Jesus, our walking beach zombie has been moved out of town to his mother’s home in Bucerias, we hope that this time he will stay there.
Volunteers Wise: Over the coming four months Robert Klusmeyer and Lisa Fisher, along with local volunteers Manuel Murrieta, Juan Sr. and Jr. and Librado Flores, Julio Gonzales and America Tejas, Patty and Jorge Morales will be ready to respond as needed.
To date we have received only seven applications along with five letters, ten of which were turned down for one of two reasons. (1) They want to join for less than a month, or (2) they wanted to join us during the off season, between December and May 1st.
Regrettably we received many letters and applications from families looking for one to three weeks vacation working with marine turtles in México. I understand their quest; however, there are several good reasons why we require all of our new volunteers to receive at least one month or more of field training. (1) Short term (one to four weeks) volunteers do help out a lot, although when we have few experienced volunteers to train and supervised I end up working all night. (2) In many cases short-term volunteers do not receive the training necessary to work alone and often pass on incorrect information to newer volunteers. (3) Short-term volunteer families also utilize an entire apartment that can be used by several volunteers that may want to join for several months. In other words, they block up the apartment schedule. Remedy; rent a house near the nursery if we can’t fit you in an apartment.
The Dune Buggy: After several years of operating it without a reverse gear the problem was finally corrected in late December when we had a used transmission installed in it. Otherwise the buggy performed very well throughout the entire season. Over the coming months it will also receive a new paint job, new front wheel rims, new seats and a new rain cover.
Weather wise: Daytime temperatures were in the mid 70°s to low to mid 80°s while night time temps were in the chilly high 50°s to low 70°s. January rainfall came to 0.0 inches, total for the year being 0.0 inches.
Town and Country wise: the price of a gallon of gasoline rose by 3 pesos per liter to US$3.56 a gallon in early January. The peso has also risen from 20.5 to 21.25 per US dollar.
Heads up, on January 12th, the County and/or State transportation authorities impounded several golf carts and perhaps some unlicensed quad-runners found on the roads of Sayulita and two in San Pancho. A lawyer will meet with transportation authorities to resolve the problem but in the meantime, there has not been one single golf cart and few quad-runners on the streets of San Pancho to this day.
Pressure from the union of taxi cab drivers has asked the authorities to ban and/or confiscate all the golf carts. They say the carts are cutting into their business, SOB!!. The solution up until the problem is resolved is to rent a car at the airport, use it in the place of a golf cart, and then return it to the airport. It may be a little more expensive but it takes the taxi cab drivers completely out of the profit loop.
If you have not received a Homeowners Directory yet, please drop by our house and pick one up.
Frank D. Smith, Director
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Project Tortuga
Tel. 311-258-4100
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