Tortuga Tracks

First she headed toward the estero

After depositing her eggs, she headed back to sea

Along the way she made some twists and turns

Right over the tire tracks she went undeterred.

Very cool that you were able to get a photo of those perfect tracks. I like the way your new camera picks up the details Judy, like that lovely sand. I love that beach and I felt like I was standing there, especially photo #2.

That stretch must have been a popular nesting beach. On the other side of the estero, up the beach at Brisa del Mar, we had a beachfront campspot about this same time of year in 1991 I believe. They had just installed the chain link fence around the campground and we heard a loud clanging in the night.

This girl's powerful instincts were guiding her somewhere and she was repeatedly banging her head or shell into the fence trying to get there.

We didn't want to interfere but couldn't stand watching her so my husband sort of pivoted her around (very heavy!)and aimed her back out to sea. She eventually went back in to the water and we were hoping she had a back-up plan.



[Edited on 9-27-2007 by oladulce]

incredible, the forces of nature!

Nice Piece

I don't know

Osprey ,
I only know tortuga . I will ask my vecino here in Bellevue , he is from Mexico .
My spanish dictionary says: Turtle (zool.) tortuga (de mar).
Maybe de mar is supposed to be del mar (of the sea)
On the spanish side it says: Tortuga = turtle , tortoise .


Also, I have a confession to make I'm really not a tortuga I just play one on the internet !
(sorry toneart )


Osprey,
In Cassal's spanish dictionary , it says: caguama , turtle (of the Caribbean).

Saludos , Tortuga

[Edited on 9-29-2007 by tortuga]

oxxo Thanks for the turtle information.Will remember and do as advised if I'm ever lucky enough to have a turtle encounter.

thanx oxxo

For Osprey

I found this on the internet . It is translated from spanish so it's rough , but you can get the drift . Caguama is mentioned along with ," Caguamadas" which sounds like a celebration featuring turtle meat (unfortunately!)



Five of the seven species of marine turtles that exist in the planet develop, they are fed and the beaches and waters of the Mexican Pacific and the Gulf of California reproduce in. All of them are threatened or in extinction danger:

the Yellow (Caretta caretta) and the Black (Chelonia mydas agassizii), that respectively migrate from waters of Japan and the Southeastern of Mexico to their fields of anidación and feeding in Baja California;

the small colonies of Golfina turtle (olivacea Lepidochelys) and Seven Edges or Laúd (coriacea Dermochelys) in the region of the Cabos in the Peninsula of Baja California.

the turtle of Sea turtle (imbricata Eretmochelys) that is very rare at the present time, because their populations almost were exterminated by their valuable shell (J.A. Seminoff, personal communication, 2001).


In the Gulf of California, we know that in the last 15 years the population of the Laúd turtle has diminished 90 percents, whereas the yellow turtle has had a decrease of the 60 percent. The populations of Golfina turtle begin to recover, in year 2004 were more nests than in the pasts 20 years and this 2005 also they arrived in great numbers.

Causes of its disappearance

Between the main causes that encourage the illegal practices that they have in danger of extinction to the populations of marine turtles in Mexico emphasize the following ones:

the myths and beliefs associated to the consumption of eggs and meat of marine turtle, and

that the eggs are considered as “aphrodisiac” in the popular culture and are sacked furtively in well-known beaches of anidación.


He is traditional in the coasts of the northwest of Mexico and in the coasts of Oaxaca to consume the meat of the marine turtle called “caguama generically”. The fishermen remove to celebrate them baptisms, weddings, Christmas and the New Year and its consumption he denotes to be able in the cities of South and North Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora. The politicians organize “caguamadas” in campaign, the narcotics detectives consume them to festejar and those that they want to be conceited to have money organize “caguamadas” after weddings or other celebrations.

The demand of these products is responsible for which approximately, thirty and five thousand marine turtles are sacrificed annually in the region of the Gulf of pirate California by fishermen. Of the total between 8 and 9 thousand turtles time of Cuaresma and Easter in this region are sacrificed at, to feed which does not wish to eat meat in Friday of watch, since in Mexico many think that the marine turtle because nothing in the sea “is fished”. The skin is dealt to make shoes and bags, their meat and eggs are sold in black markets in several regions of the country.

The efforts of conservation undertaken in the last fifteen years and the total and permanent prohibition of the slaughter and commercialization of the marine turtle that the Mexican Government established from 1990 for these species in the NOM-059-Ecol-2000, in the Fishing National Letter of the 2000 and in the National Program for the Protection, Conservation, Investigation and Handling of Marine Turtles of the 2000 have not given results and their populations every time more are threatened of extinction.

The main markets of turtle meat are in: the Federal District, Oaxaca, Sonant, Sinaloa, Baja California, South Baja California, and in the United States have been in California and Arizona.


Campaign against the turtle egg consumption


In order to try to save to this species, the Bottom for the Communication and the Environmental Education, along with Wildcoast and other organizations are making from the 2004 directed campaigns the population so that it does not make his consumption. Our campaigns have spread in massive mass media and the main points of commercialization of the country.

http://www.eambiental.org/index.php?option=com_content&t...

[Edited on 9-30-2007 by tortuga]

sea turtle research and conservation