San Pancho and Turtle News from Costa Verde Ecological Group Frank D. Smith - Ecological Group of Costa Verde
July 2, 2014

Saving the Sea Turtles: A brief overview of the sea turtles in Mexico. (piratemomma2's channel)

Hola Volunteers, Supporters and Readers ~

Since the box nursery was not ready to receive nests until the 18th of June, the first eight nests of the season were placed within the beach nursery. When operational, the box nursery received an additional seventeen nests for a June total of twenty-five nests. The average number of nests collected in June is about seven. Twenty-five nests is an all-time record for June and may be setting the stage for a big season.

If it was not for the marine turtle program, we may have never noticed the slow but gradual change in our weather, or been that concerned over the increasing number of weather related articles. Although when we acquire the role of guardian of the marine turtles, our lives change like the environment around us. Within a span of twenty-five years we began to see a slow but ever increasing number of hurricanes, el Niño events, heavy rains, rise in nest temperatures, flooding waves and the possible rise in sea level. We know that the changing climate could eventually wipe out the entire population of marine turtles along the Pacific Coast of México. Sadly there is very little we can personally do to stop these anomalies. We will protect what nests we can within the controlled environment of the box nursery and hope for best.

Nursery Washout: Beach nursery gets washed out by high waves 8/31/11 (piratemomma2's channel)

Weather-wise: daytime temperatures were mostly in the high 80°s while night time temps were in the mid to high 70°s. No outstanding weather events; light surf and winds with mostly cloudy days. According to rainfall records collected over the past 14 years the average rainfall in June is 3.4 inches. However, by the end of June 2014 we had received about 12 inches - a near record. Out at sea there were five non-threatening hurricanes/tropical storms: Amanda cat-4, Boris TS, Cristina cat-4, Douglas TS and Elida TS.

Starlie Bertrand, Victoria Robertson, Tom Witteveen, Summer Bertrand, Matej Madacky, Joslin Carson and Paige Thomsen

Volunteer-wise: Joslin, Starlie and Summer Bertrand, US, and Lisa Fisher, Canada. Also see Project Tortuga/Selected for the latest lineup on our volunteers. In June we were joined by four volunteers, Paige Thomsen, Victoria Robertson, Tom Witteveen and Matej Madacky. Jessica Schmidt and Mark Hiller along with Sue Parker and Juergen Weber will join us in July.

In order to have both nurseries and the dune buggy ready and operational by early June it is important that the first few volunteers arrive around mid-May. Although this season was different, the first help arrived in mid-June. Although the timing was perfect, it was at about the same time that I had fully recovered from surgery and a long vacation. With the help of the newly arrived volunteers we had both nurseries ready to receive nest within three days.

The aging Dune Buggy: A pre-season preventive maintenance check revealed three areas of concern. The entire muffler, including pipes, were shot-full of holes and will be replaced along with the steering tie rod assembly. The third problem is the transmission. It may have to be replaced/repaired sometime this summer. Otherwise, the buggy is in fairly good condition despite the rigorous task it is asked to perform each night.

Town and country wise: throughout June, the gas station, sewer plant and the reconstruction of the intersection in front of town lay idle, mañanatized, while the only noticeable construction was the ongoing work at the polo facility. Despite this summer's heat and less than a handful of tourists brave enough to enjoy it, several more of San Pancho’s up-scale restaurants have decided to stay open throughout the summer, including México’s version of a new 7/11. Except for a record number of June weddings and the accompanying fireworks, the beaches are quiet except for one brief flashflood on the morning of the 9th, which briefly opened the mouth of the lagoon to the sea. By the end of June the peso was 12.7 per US dollar, regular gasoline is US $3.80/gal.  

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

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