Threats to sea turtles

"Throughout Asia and the Americas, Pacific leatherback populations are disappearing. This is a flagship crisis in marine biodiversity, and the repercussions will reverberate throughout marine ecosystems and the Biosphere as a whole."

- Rod Mast, Vice President, Conservation International

Sea turtles evolved some 130 million years ago, surviving through the extinction of the dinosaurs, and today face threats so huge that without worldwide conservation efforts their survival into the next century would be almost impossible.

Poachers kill turtles for their meat and eggs, which are prized as a culinary delicacy to trusted clients, while the skin is used for exotic boots, belts, and purses. In Mexico eggs are considered an aphrodisiac and are simply opened into a glass with salt, lime and chilli to make a popular drink.

As well as the threats mentioned above, sea turtles are also faced with natural predators throughout their long life histories. Animals such as raccoons, coatis and foxes seek out and dig up nests from the beach. Those lucky enough to hatch are then faced with the threat of a hungry bird or crab on their journey to the sea; and once in the sea, sharks and other fish are just waiting for an easy feed. Research suggests that on average, 1 out of every 1000 to 10,000 hatchlings (0.01 to 0.1%) reach adulthood to nest and reproduce.

Other threats facing sea turtles include:

24 hours at Campamento Majahuas

The work is divided between collection of nests and monitoring of hatchlings. Due to the size of the patrol area, collection takes place with quad bikes/ATV’s (volunteers are always accompanied by staff).

 The nests are located by following the tracks made by the turtle on her way to or from the nesting site, or by sighting the turtle herself. Once the nest has been located and the turtle is laying eggs or has left the nest, the eggs are collected and transferred to a plastic bag, when a data sheet must be completed. All nests at the end of each patrol of the beach are then taken back to the incubation corral.

The incubation corral is an area of beach set aside for the relocation of nests; it is enclosed by a high fence to reduce the risk of predation from other animals. Volunteers on corral duty will bury the nests in rows in the order in which they were collected. Depending on the season, there may be anything from 1 to 160 nests collected per night, each nest usually containing between 60 and 120 eggs. Volunteers on corral duty are also responsible for collecting hatchlings. The eggs of the Olive Ridley turtle take an average of 47 days to incubate. The whole nest will then begin to hatch at the same time and the hatchlings climb to the surface of the sand.

The volunteers collect the hatchlings and record how many there are and from which nest they hatched. It is also very important for the volunteers to patrol the borders of the corral throughout their shift to minimise the risk of coatis and raccoons entering and digging up the nests. The volunteers then release the hatchlings before sunrise.

Most volunteers take the opportunity to sleep in late in the mornings, after a long nights work. Days are usually spent relaxing in camp or visiting the nearest town to collect food supplies. The camp is in a beautiful location and also offers great opportunities for bird watching and simply walking along the lagoon edge.

Before sundown volunteers help clean old nests out from the incubation corral, this prevents a build up of old eggs in the sand and allows for reuse of the same area as a corral in future nesting seasons.

Campamento Majahuas A.C.; the charity

Campamento Majahuas A.C. is the Mexican charity which has the concession to patrol the section of beach known as Majahuas in the municipality of Tomatlán, Jalisco. The charity is made up of several members of the ‘Roca Negra Fishermen’s Cooperative’, who have been in charge of the sea turtle conservation programme at Majahuas for almost 25 years. The majority of the members are from the surrounding towns and villages and arrive to the camp with their sons, who will become the next generation of volunteers at Campamento Majahuas.

Each day two members of ‘Campamento Majahuas A.C.’ arrive to the camp to begin their 24 hour shift, which includes looking after the camp and incubation corral as well as patrolling the beach during the night to collect any nests they encounter and relocate them to the corral. This work is unpaid, and many of the locals have to leave their paid employment for two days in order to cover their shifts at camp (roughly twice per month).

For the continuous costs involved in running the conservation programme the charity relies on support in the form of donations from governmental and nongovernmental groups, such as the municipal government and donations from visitors to the camp. These costs include petrol and vehicle maintenance for patrolling the beach, materials for collecting and burying nests, maintaining water and power supplies to the camp, paying a qualified biologist, programme development and much more (please click here for a list of needs for the 2009-2010 nesting season).

Experience Mex-ECO works alongside the locals to help with the conservation programme during nesting season (June – February), and also takes over-night tours in order to spread the word about the conservation efforts and raise funds towards the maintenance and development of the programme.