San Pancho and Turtle News from Costa Verde Ecological Group Frank D. Smith - Ecological Group of Costa Verde
October 5, 2018

Hola Volunteers and Supporters ~

Turtle activities: By the end of September, over 792 nests were recorded. 486 were placed in the box nursery, 284 were relocated on the beach in better locations, 9 were washed out, and 11 were taken by poachers. To date, over 18,300 hatchlings have been released to the seas, while at night, during on our routine coverage of the beach, it is common to see hatchlings making their way to the ocean.

We may have a problem with a dog. It has been digging up old and fresh nests. Finding and getting this animal off the beach is going to be a tough job.

Volunteer-wise: Year-round volunteers: Manuel Murrieta, Julio and America Gonzales, Juan Flores and his family, Karen Sorum and Hallie Loveridge. Seasonal volunteers for September were Zac Wilson, Marek Bering, Michelle Breinholt, Emma Urofsky and Carol Harootunian. Scott Boyce and Beckie. (see image below)

Despite the shortage of volunteers this season, we have been able to carry out all tasks but only with extraordinary effort and outstanding workmanship on the part of the volunteers.

That night we cleaned 30 nest boxes, seven loads of sand to the beach, and nearly 2,000 released.
Sandra, Emma, Becki, Scott, Marek, Zac, Manuel, Kathryn and Bob. Karen and Hallie not in the photo.

Weather-wise: Daytime temperatures were mostly in the mid to high 80°s and at times, in the low 90°s, while night time temps were mostly in the mid to high 70°s. Rainfall for September was 8.54 inches and for the year it came to 32.86 inches. Throughout the hurricane season there has been very little to no tropical storm activity in San Pancho including waves, rain and/or wind.

A flash flood on September 26/27th deposited a ton of plastic garbage across our beach. This debris came from careless homeowners living along the river (arroyo) but was cleaned up within two days.  However, today the beach is cluttered again with tons of unsightly floating debris washed down from the mountains making it very difficult to patrol the beach with the dune buggy.

At the end of September, we received the dune buggy back from the mechanic after three weeks of repairs. Unfortunately, several problems persisted and it had to be returned to the mechanic who made corrective repairs at no cost to the Group. The buggy is now running extremely well (knock-on-wood).

During the month of repairs to the dune buggy, my Honda CRV patrolled the beach in its place. It was not only more comfortable but it actually traveled the beach far better. We would like to thank Carol Harootunian for giving us this vehicle several years ago. Without it we would have lost many nests.

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

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