San Pancho and Turtle News from Costa Verde Frank D. Smith - Ecological Group of Costa Verde
September 5, 2017

Hola Volunteers, Supporters and Readers ~

Nest numbers throughout August had been a little low, although, by Sunday the 13th, all hell broke lose when we received 26, 19 and 24 nests in three consecutive nights. The bad news: four of our volunteers returned home the night before which left us with only seven volunteers including myself. Overall, we collected 251 nests in August and 376 nests for the season, of which over 76 were left on the beach (disguised) and 17 nests were taken by poachers, about 4.5% which is about normal.

On the bright side, thirty-three nests were due to hatch in the first week of September, and the first four hatched on August 31st. On September 2nd, the first eight nests boxes were cleaned with a hatching rate of 93% which is outstanding. Hope the rest will follow.

Part time volunteers for August: Manuel Murrieta, Julio Gonzales and America, Juan Flores. Fulltime: Tari Neill, Lisa Fisher, Robert Turner Anderson and Caitlyn Sweat, Karen Sorum and Hallie Loveridge.    August volunteers that have returned home: Almadin, Yana and Carol Harootunian-Cox, Joslin and Summer Bertrand with Vivian Tauer, Jessica Schmidt, Jessika Grindstaff, Angie Dean, with Ryven and Roman Schlichting, Collin Drown, Chris and Alura Neill.

Weather-wise: daytime temperatures were mostly in the mid 80°s to the very low 90°s, night time temperatures were in the mid to high 70°s. Around the 4th, we received heavy rains that opened the sand barrier holding back the lagoon from the sea for the first time. The river flowed for one day afterwards and then dried up quickly. On the 10th, Atlantic hurricane Franklin (from the Gulf of México), slammed into México and became tropical storm Lidia, which dumped 2.25 inches of very heavy rain, causing the river to flow again temporarily. Total rainfall for July and August was 26.25 inches while the total for the year is 35.64 inches. Except for Franklin and Lidia, there were no other tropical storms/hurricanes in August. By the end of the month, the river began flowing fulltime.

What’s a newsletter without a dune buggy problem or two? August was her freak-out month with numerous small problems, the largest being a snapped tie-rod, which put her down and out for one night.  Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the transmission is about to fail big-time, very soon.

The peso was 17.1 and 17.8 per dollar by the end of the month; regular gasoline in San Pancho was 16.17 pesos per liter, and 3.88 a gallon.

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

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