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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64486
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thank you Judy...
So, the coast from Todos Santos around the cape to Los Barriles is nesting area. Some 1,000 miles away where Life Guards drive the beach in California
or where the above photo was taken probably isn't a concern for turtles.
It is important to note, beach driving anywhere, legal or not, should never be done where people are sunbathing or in numbers on the beach... like in
front of towns like San Felipe, Rosarito, etc.
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elizabeth
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Posts: 742
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Loreto, BCS
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Turtles nest in a lot of places...or don't because they have been disturbed.
I've seen a turtle nest right next to the Villas de Loreto...an area frequently disturbed by cars and trucks. This is not an area that had any
recorded turtle nests...so maps just don't always do it. You need to learn what conditions (sand tide rocks etc) are favorable or unfavorable for
turtles in your areas.
I've been on turtle walks on the caribbean side (part education...part patrolling)...and learned that it helps for those who live on the water to
turn out lights that can disorient the females, and move all furniture, rafts, kayaks, etc. off the beach. I have observed a female come ashore to
lay eggs, run into a deck chair, and turn right around and go back out.
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gringorio
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Posts: 812
Registered: 4-10-2004
Location: Tucson, Arizona
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I searched a bit but could not find a map that lists nesting grounds. Most life history descriptions will state nesting periods and general locations
for each species.
This spring Antonio at Campo Archelon in Bahia de los Angeles had three baby sea turtles in captivity (I forget now what species). These turtles came
from a nest on the Camp Gecko side of the bay. A tourist saw turkey vultures on the beach and went to investigate. The three baby turtles were the
only survivors of the nest.
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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David
I'm heading down soon.
I will get you all the GPS coordinates of the turtle nesting sites.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64486
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Good idea JR...
Do stop at Baja Cactus motel and see if the collection of bug repellent is still there for you to take south.
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Anonymous
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riding on the beach
I have lived in Baja 33 years now...enjoy it more all the time. I have never driven on any beach and never will. The tracks have a ripple effect in
environmental damage. Anyone with a conscience knows you should not drive on a beach..if you do, you are lying to yourself..Be honest now, you know
it is wrong.
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4baja
Super Nomad
Posts: 1339
Registered: 9-4-2003
Location: morro bay ca
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gee judy as long as i have been going to baja there has been tracks on the beach and turtles laying eggs. allso i would love to leave baja the way i
found it without all those huge houses being built between la playa and la fortuna. use to be a nice ride down the beach with board in hand to my
favorite surf spot but now i have to look up and see all those ugly houses.
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Anonymous
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riding on the beach
Well, thanks for all of the input. I appreciate all of the information given, especially about the turtles nesting. We had just left San Felipe
heading south on the Baja racecourse (30 miles of hell, whoops, sand whoops, rock whoops, and more whoops) and we were taking quite a beating. Bikes
and riders were loaded to the gills (no support vehicle) and we were beat. We spotted an out to the highway so we took it. It led us to a community
on the sand (I forgot the name) with a gatehouse (unmanned at the time) so we pulled in and stopped. I've got a great photo of our riding buddy
worshipping and kissing the highway (pagan dude) after we got off that section of whoops We asked some locals who were working at an adjacent house
if it were o.k. to ride through their community to get to the sand and to head south on the beach. They waved "no problem" so we headed on. We
didn't blaze any new trails, so to speak, through the sand and after a few tense moments of paddling through the silty stuff we were on the hardpack.
We were passed by a Jeep (CA plates) headed the other way and he gave us a friendly wave so we figured we were o.k. It was pretty awesome riding on
the beach but after a while we were glad to get back on the highway. Riding in the sand is hard on teh bikes for sure! Really worked my buddy's
DRZ400 as it was at least 100 degrees and he weighs a good 260 lbs loaded with gear. There were no people sunbathing or horses, no turtles, just dead
rotting fish from the netters who were going after something more exotic and dumped their load of dead gillnet fish back into the ocean. I really
thought that an ecological episode (red tide) or something happened because we rode 20 miles and still spotted dead rotting fish on the beach after we
were past Puerticitos.
Gonzaga Bay was a relief, no dead fish and no stinky smell. Now that I recall, there were tons of dead fish washing up on the beach in San Felipe. I
was hoping to bring the kids down there but now I'm sold on Gonzaga Bay. Much cleaner and great hospitality from the locals and Antonio and his crew.
But thanks for the heads-up! We'll be sticking to the dirt next time. bob
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Cameron
Nomad
Posts: 117
Registered: 10-12-2004
Location: Todos Santos / Seattle WA
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Mood: Thirsty!
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Sea Turtle Conservation Efforts in Baja
...Just thought I'd post this link w/Sea Turtle information from Asupmatoma in BCS via the Mexonline website. There's some interesting stuff there for
anyone who's interested.
Cameron
http://www.mexonline.com/tortuga.htm
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3779
Registered: 2-9-2004
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Passing this on as well:
"Coastal Dunes" - by John McNerney
The sand dunes that front the shoreline of the Pacific coast and the east cape region of Baja California Sur are known as coastal or barrier dunes.
This type of dune, such as those found behind the beaches in Todos Santos, act as a buffer against high surf and summer storms, protecting low lying
inland areas from flooding. Equally important, these dunes provide a sand reservoir that replaces sand eroded from the beach. The benefits that these
dunes provide are often not recognized much less valued monetarily. The purpose of this article is to help people understand their critical function
in the natural environment and, with this understanding, perhaps alter their recreational and developmental activities, which often lead to the
destruction of these dunes.
Coastal dunes are significantly different from sand dunes in desert areas. Desert dunes shift continually in the direction of prevailing winds and
have little to no vegetative cover. Coastal dunes, however, are covered in specialized grasses that have the unique ability to survive in shifting
sand, continually producing new stems and roots through cycles of burial and exposure. This net of grasses stabilized the dunes and when damaged or
removed by human interference, the dunes will begin migrating inland, covering everything in their path and allowing the sea to flood low lying inland
areas.
The preservation of this natural coastal environment will only increase in importance in the future, given global climate change, the attendant rising
of sea levels and the growing incidences of powerful storms. A coastal dune system, left in its natural state, will slowly migrate inland as the sea
level rises and continue to protect inland areas.
In recent years government regulatory protection of coastal dunes has been enacted in many parts of the world, especially those coastal areas
developed for recreation over the past century when housing and hotels replaced the dunes. Dunes are the sand reservoir for the beaches and when they
are removed, the beaches follow suit. Beach erosion, with the subsequent loss of recreational areas, has severely affected local economies and
taxpayers are now funding large-scale coastal dune restoration projects.
Local Mexican environmental groups, such as "Sociedad de Historia Natural Niparaja" of La Paz, are working with government officials to enact
regulations in Mexico to prevent similar destruction of Baja's coastal dunes. Here are two ways we can all help to protect this valuable resource.
Able to withstand the most violent storms, coastal dunes can quickly disappear due to human activities. Driving 4-wheel vehicles and ATVs on and
across the dunes destroys the grasses holding the dunes in place. These paths to the beach can eventually serve as openings for the ocean to move
inland. If you must drive to the beach, there are numerous bocas (openings) where arroyos run to the ocean and provide less destructive motorized
access to the beach.
Electing not to build a home or promote development on coastal dunes is of importance, not only to protect the coastal environment, but to also
protect one's potential investment. The beach erosion photo in last issue (see above) showed a partially destroyed house built on a coastal dune. This
home was part of a shoreline development called "Las Barrancas" in the East Cape region north of Cabo Pulmo. A severe storm with high surf swept away
up to 20 meters of developed beach front property, resulting in partial to total destruction of a number of homes, leaving others perched on newly
formed sand cliffs overlooking the beach.
Property owners are now erecting bulkheads and seawalls in an attempt to prevent further erosion of their remaining land. Such structures, as
experience in other coastal areas has shown, have proved to contribute to or accelerate local coastal erosion.
This cycle of construction and destruction has been repeated in coastal areas worldwide. The only successful solution has been to protect the existing
dunes and restore those that have been destroyed. Eventually, the sea always wins.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64486
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Bahia Santa Maria and Laguna Percebu lost many (then recently) built vacation homes constructed right above the high tide line on sand beaches,
because the sand moves! Wind and tidal erosion moves the beach and dunes annually. In 1978, the bay at Bahia Santa Maria suddonly changed shape and
many homes built on the upper beach along the bay were undermined and collapsed as the beach 'moved' out from under them.
The wise Mexican land owners always located their homes far back from the beach... they are still standing.
I am going to guess that homes built on the cliff from La Roca south will also be gone someday soon as the sandstone cliff face is eroding as well.
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