bajajudy
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Tortuga Tracks
First she headed toward the estero
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bajajudy
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After depositing her eggs, she headed back to sea
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bajajudy
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Along the way she made some twists and turns
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bajajudy
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Right over the tire tracks she went undeterred.
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oladulce
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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]
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woody with a view
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incredible, the forces of nature!
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tortuga
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Nice Piece
Baja Judy ,
Thanks for sharing your photographs . I like the way you told the story . It was mentioned you have a new camera . I was wondering which one you
got .
Saludos , Tortuga
[Edited on 9-28-2007 by tortuga]
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Osprey
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Tortuga, I always thought Tortugas were land turtles, Caguamas were sea turtles. Can you use either one either way? Thought maybe because it's your
handle you might know.
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bajajudy
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Tortuga
The camera is a Sony cybershot model DSC W80. It has a Zeiss lens that I think makes the difference in quality.
Seahawk:
All I can reference is the fact that the sea turtle organization is called Grupo Tortuguero....maybe it should be tortuguera tracks
[Edited on 9-28-2007 by bajajudy]
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tortuga
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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]
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oxxo
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Yes, the sea turtles are out in force on Baja beaches this time of year. To clear up the question above, the Spanish word 'tortuga' refers to either
land or sea turtles. "Caguama" is the Spanish name for a particular species of sea turtle called the "Loggerhead" in English. In the Baja, the
Loggerhead resides primarily in the upper SOC where it dines on its favorite food, Jellyfish.
There are a total of 7 species of sea turtles world wide. All 7 species are considered endangered. As recently as 30 years ago, as many as 1 million
sea turtles were harvested in Mexico each year for commercial purposes. Today, they are a protected marine animal in Mexico. However, poaching is
still a continuing problem. 4 of the 7 species are found in the Baja. They are (with the Spanish names):
Olive Ridley (golfina)
Loggerhead (caguama or perico)
Leatherback (laud or baula)
Green (verde or blanca)
The Olive Ridley is the smallest of all the species and the one that is most common in the Baja. The pictures in the post above are of an Olive
Ridley sea turtle.
In the Los Cabos area, Grupo Tortuguera has designated three sites as official sea turtle hatchling sites. They are:
San Jose - Presidente Resort
Corridor - Casa del Mar Resort
San Lucas - Pueblo Bonito Sunset Resort
Eggs are collected from the area and taken to the nearest hatchling site. If you see a nesting turtle or run across a nesting site in the Los Cabos
area, please notify one of the resorts above and they will come and collect the eggs and re-bury them at their protected site. Do not disturb the
nest. The resorts have trained personnel who know how to move the eggs properly. The survival rate to maturity of a sea turtle varies between 1% to
25% depending on circumstances and location. We hope that the Hatchling Program in Los Cabos can achieve close to a 25% survival rate.
Here are some points of interest about sea turtles. The information will vary somewhat from species to species.
- Nesting season is from June1 to December 31
- A female can lay as many as 100 eggs in a nest
- Incubation period is 45 days, more or less
- eggs are buried 12 to 18 inches below the sand
- Once hatched, a male never returns to land, a female returns only to lay her eggs.
- a female reaches egg laying maturity in 3 to 7 years.
- a female will lay anywhere from every year to every three years.
- a female can lay as many as 4 nests in any one year
- a female is like a salmon, she always returns to the same beach where she was hatched to lay her eggs, even though she may travel as far as South
America or Asia searching for food between laying seasons.
I volunteer at one of the Hatchling sites in Los Cabos. Last Monday night we had 45 Olive Ridleys hatched that were released to the sea. Last night,
80 Leatherbacks hatched and were successfully released. So we are hoping that we get 20 or 25 out of this number that will reach maturity. We are
expecting another hatching tomorrow night. We have a total of 5 additional nests incubating right now to be hatched within the next month or so. We
expect to gather eggs for several more nests between now and the end of the nesting season. Again, if you find a nest, contact one of the resorts
above, contact Grupo Tortuguero, or contact me (by U2U) and I'll try to help you. The public is welcome to come, observe, and volunteer if you wish
at our site. We had probably two dozen children here last night watching
the hatchlings who will become life long friends of sea turtles. Trained personnel will allow a child (and adult) to hold a hatchling before
releasing to the sea.
If you run across a female on land, do not disturb her. Do not use bright lights (flashlights, flash on cameras, etc.) These lights will confuse and
disorient her. The female needs to work in the dark and private to accomplish her job. She does her job best when observed at a distance without
distractions or interference.
If you should be lucky enough to find some hatchlings making their way to the sea, DO NOT PICK THEM UP AND CARRY THEM TO THE WATER'S EDGE. It is
natural for us to want to help them out, but they do best without our physical help. When they hatch, they will often have part of the yolk sack
attached to them. Crawling across the sand (as much as 100 yards) scrubs off this yolk sack and makes the hatchling less appetizing to predatory fish
once they enter the water. Also, the females fine tune their homing instinct by crawling to the water. Without this trek to the sea, a female does
not establish her home destination and will not nest during her lifespan. What we can do is stand guard over the hatchlings to make sure that they
all make it to the water without being picked off by predators while on land.
Finally, please be very careful with ATVs, horses, and dogs on the beach during nesting season. ATVs and horses can compact the sand and prevent a
nest from hatching and dogs will dig up nests to eat the eggs.
The turtles appreciate all the help that Nomad amigos can give to them. They are a necessary asset to the natural environment and so much a part of
the Baja experience.
Muchas gracias.
[Edited on 9-29-2007 by oxxo]
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Cypress
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oxxo Thanks for the turtle information. Will remember and do as advised if I'm
ever lucky enough to have a turtle encounter.
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tortuga
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thanx oxxo
Thankyou for this interesting information about the sea Turtles. Also Thanks for voluntering to help with there survival .
Tortuga
[Edited on 9-30-2007 by tortuga]
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tortuga
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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]
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gringorio
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sea turtle research and conservation
Great subject! thanks for postiong the photos Baja Judy and for the great information from everyone else!
Here's my two cents put together from work in Bahia de los Angeles and a general review of some of the literature produced out of Campo Archelon and
some great biologists:
Literature review of the abundance and conservation status of green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, in Bahia de los Angeles, Baja California,
Mexico
Greg Joder - www.BajaTrekker.com
Go to: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=26980
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