Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde Turtle Updates Frank Smith - Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde
July 19, 2022

Turtle-wise, it’s been a slow season, collecting about 12 nests throughout May and June as compared to 30 nests during the same two months last year. The problem could have been bone-dry sand. Underground Weather is forecasting rain in the coming weeks which could make it easier to dig nests.

Otherwise, with the help of eight volunteers, we have rebuilt the entire box nursery. The last task will be the cleaning and repairing of some 330 nest boxes. On July 21st we will begin filling nest boxes and on November 15th the last of 721 boxes should be filled, (box K-43,) A total of 118 days of hard work will be completed. Styrofoam nest boxes are now being replaced with biodegradable material, which can be purchased at LaComer.

So far 2022 has been an extremely productive year for us. On June 16th we received our 2022 nursery permit from Semarnat, while several months earlier our constitution was completely overhauled to reflect current changes within the association. We are now fully licensed and certified by Profepa.

We are very pleased and grateful for the many recent donors: Barbara Meister, Joseph Sackey, Ronald Walsh, Robert Korb, Jennifer Nelsen, Karen Hope, and Jessica Schmidt. Without your donations, our work would be nearly impossible.

May volunteers: Karen Sorum and Hallie Loveridge, Juan Flores and family, Trinity Niko, Marci Farmer, Jessica and Mark Hiller. If you are interested in joining us, we have one opening between July 1st to October 15th, go to our webpage at Applications.

Trinity became one of our volunteers under unusual circumstances. She originally thought that when she applied through a college intern credit service provider she would be placed within our marine turtle program where she would conduct an experiment, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. She did have an experiment within our box nursery, but nothing more.

Instead of joining us as a regular volunteer in one of our apartments close to her project, she was placed in a house about two miles across highway 200 from the nursery, with no hot water, washing machine, or a single volunteer to talk to. Knowing she had no additional income and feeling her discomfort I asked her to join us in an apartment. Trinity is a good volunteer and is more than welcome to stay with us.

Jessica is training to become our new Director, which will not be an easy task. Jessica with her husband Mark has upended their lives in Florida to join us. Jessica left her job working with marine turtles in Florida, and Mark is traveling back and forth to keep some income coming in during their transition here. By leaving Florida they will not have a stable income and it will be up to our donors to help support them. Carol Hartoonian is the first to help with a donation of twelve hundred dollars, but that is only the beginning. Help us by going to PayPal and noting your donation Mark and Jessica.

Our new nursery permit will allow the use of the Dune Buggy, Can-am, and the Honda CRV on our beaches. We are looking to purchase or rent a small trailer that the Can-am can pull, it must be 6 to 10 feet long and no wider than the Can-am.

If you have any interesting photographs or videos we can post on our Facebook, or Instagram send them to either Jessica Schmidt or me and we will share them for everyone to see. Also, we would enjoy a few nice Facebook “Comments” from some of our 230 former volunteers, and of course others.

The nesting season has begun, although most methods of raising income have been hindered due to the pandemic. If you can help us go to our PayPal account and help, it means a lot to us.

Weather-wise: Temperatures during the day were in the low to high 80’s°, while nighttime temps were in the mid to high 70’s°. Again, cloudy warm days. 4.16 inches of rain in June, and for the year the rainfall came to 4.20 inches. The first thunder and lightning dropped in on June 17th, but no serious tropical activities.

Town and country-wise: Regular gasoline is around 4.61 dollars per gallon. The exchange rate is around 19.2 pesos per dollar. Most home construction has stopped and most trucks carrying building materials have ceased at last. Tourism has slowed down this month due to rain, heat, and humidity. On June 16th, like magic, a larger than a normal number of June bugs showed up at my door wanting in, along with hundreds of flying termites. The only insect I enjoy this time of year is the sound of the Cicada.