San Pancho and Turtle News from Costa Verde Ecological Group Frank D. Smith - Ecological Group of Costa Verde
January 3, 2017

From right front: Miles, Chloe and Julie Budgen, Gale Greer and Lorren Garliche, Frank, Lisa Fisher, Manuel Murrrieta, Lena Maia Nasdel and Mat Budgen. With guest Davis and Laura, right front. Missing from the photo are Robert and Sandy Klusmeyer, and Joslin and Summer Bertrand.

Hola Volunteers, Supporters and Readers ~

By the end of the year sixteen nests remain within our box nursery, all of which are doing well, and are scheduled to hatch within the next two weeks. Although without a beach nursery there will be no public releasing after mid-January. On the other hand there are 36 nests on the beach that will hatch naturally between January 1st and February 15th. If you look for them you may get lucky, if you do find a hatching nest keep the dogs away from them, and help the hatchlings to the water, especially if the sand is too hot, otherwise let them do their thing.

Total nests recorded this season came to 648. Nests left on the beach to hatch naturally came to 61, and the poachers slimed off with 33 nests. By the end of December we had released nearly 50,000 hatchlings at a survival rate of 88%, the highest success rate in over two decades. At the same time we received a little less than half the normal number of nests expected, recording 648 compared to a possible 1,480 nests. The drop in numbers was caused by El Niño.

October volunteers:  Gale Greer and Lorren Garliche, Robert and Sandy Klusmeyer, joined by Joslin and Summer Bertrand who arrived for a week just after X-mas. Lena Maria Nasdal, and Julie, her husband Matt and two children, Miles and Chloe returned home in mid-December. Local volunteers are Manuel, Juan Sr. and Jr. and Librado Flores, Julio Gonzales and America Tejas, Patty and Jorge Morales.

To date we have received a few applications for the coming season, which are on file and we will start forming a lineup for next season very soon. Although we need to hear from past or former volunteers so we can assign rooms or find homes for them, so let me know your dates ASAP.

After several years of operating the buggy without a reverse gear the problem was finally corrected when in late December we installed a good used transmission. Over the coming months it will also receive a paint job, new front wheel rims, new seats and a new rain cover, otherwise it performed very well throughout the entire season.

In mid-December, Vicente Peña Aldrete the director of the “Red Tortuguera AC” the marine nursery located to the north of La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit, caught a poacher that had cut his way into their box nursery. The damage was so extensive that they had to move all un-incubated nest boxes into our nursery for safe keeping, or until they could rebuild a new green house nursery.

Weather wise:  I was hoping this wouldn’t happen this year, on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, we received three day of very light rain, with wind and heavy clouds. The combination turned our pleasant warm weather into chilly winter nights. Daytime temperatures were in low to mid 80°s while night time temps were in the low 60°s to low 70°s. December rain came to 0.30 inches, total for the year being 58.74 inches.

Heads-up, the price of a gallon of gasoline could skyrocket to $3.84 in early January. The move will phase out government-set gasoline prices, a practice that has prevailed in Mexico for decades, and replace them with free market prices. The peso has been fluctuating from 19.2 to 20.4 per dollar.

Despite second thoughts, the first copies of the 2017 San Pancho Homeowner’s Directory were published on December 16th. The directory was designed to raise funding for the marine program, although our hopes of making a profit this season may be a little more difficult than realized. Over the past several years many of our key donors have vanished. The publication has shrunk from 164 sponsors to just 119 today. When you consider the loss of donors and the fact that it takes over a month to update the information within it, reediting 52 pages and printing 6,850 pages, you can see that it is a labor of love that keeps it published. Call me if you need a copy and I will deliver.

Frank D. Smith, Director
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Project Tortuga
Telephone: (311) 258-4100
Email: groupo-eco@project-tortuga.org

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