Sea turtles in Baja: a personal history

Another recent post links to an article on historical uses of sea turtles in Baja. It brought back some of these memories of my own family's experiences. (I didn't want to hijack their post, so I've started a separate one.)

My most recent experience with a sea turtle was in Cabo Pulmo last summer. This is one of my favorite photos from that trip.



But I'm old enough to remember when many tourist shops in La Paz, Tijuana and Ensenada routinely sold body lotion, allegedly with sea turtle oil in it. Also, I recall when they kept live sea turtles on their backs in the basement at la Bahia hotel in Ensenada, to butcher for food in the restaurant. In retrospect this was pretty horrific.

I have cousins in Baja and our families would visit and spend summers in Ensenada when I was growing up. These products and menu offerings were accepted as the norm, and I never questioned the treatment or knew about efforts to protect sea turtles at that time.

But in the late 70s I went to Ensenada with a friend who was a university student in CA, and originally from Nigeria. He cautioned me against buying the lotion since it supported the killing of sea turtles.

I have to admit it was a real "a Ha" moment. Up to that point in my life, I had never considered the impacts of these products and dinners on the sea turtle population.

I never bought another bottle of that product.

As for the meat: while driving north from La Paz 20 years ago a friend and I stopped at a small restaurant built in front of a family home. We enjoyed an order of delicious homemade cheese quesadillas. We asked for a second order and they apologized for running out, but offered us a special soup.

After a few questions about the soup it became apparent what it was. I declined their offer but they returned with one bowl for my dining companion: it contained sea turtle meat.

However, just as they delivered it to the table a car pulled off the highway and parked out front. It had a Pesca logo on the side. Things got very quiet in the restaurant. Two men got out of the car and entered the front door.

My friend was enjoying the soup and had enough years in Baja to realize he was eating "forbidden fruit". He was also savvy enough not to say anything as the Pesca men looked over the menu. When the men asked about the soup of the day I noticed it suddenly became something different.

Nothing happened to the restaurant owners that day, but looking back I wonder if they thought they had been set up by an innocent looking couple only pretending to be looking for lunch. And I was told afterwards that eating sea turtle meat was a long-standing practice for many Baja Sur families who lived on ranches, and often traded milk and meat with fishermen.

Final note: perhaps we need a new topic on personal histories, documenting changes we've seen over time in the Baja Peninsula? I realize Doug has recently revamped this discussion board for the better, and I greatly appreciate his efforts. Maybe next time he's adding new topics "personal historical perspectives" could be an addition?

Thanks for the story.
Was in 1994 we came upon an abandoned sea turtle poaching camp on an island off of New Guinea. We had permission from government officials (a bribe) to enter an off limits area. We had two armed guards along to keep us company. At the camp we found hundreds of sea turtle shells and many camp sites.
That night we witnessed a female digging her pit and laying her eggs on a beach nearby. Our guards were anxious to gather the eggs but we managed to talk them out of it. I have images of this event that I will scan.
New Guinea 1994


[Edited on 4-6-2015 by Marc]