From Nesting to Liberacion

I have already explained how we go about checking on the nests that have been protected, and have shown you a bit of what happens if the nests are not viable, or not yet ready to hatch.  In this post, I hope to explain to you the process used at Vida Milenaria (the organization run by Papa Tortuga) and what happens to the hatchlings once they have hatched.  And by the way, here we are.  Me, and my new good friend, Fernando Manzano, Papa Tortuga himself.

Come to think of it, I think you ought to see the folks working on the VM project.  Here are most of the field workers and camp-based staff: the folks responsible for physically moving and maintaining nests, as well as the people who receive and educate the visitors, as well at the Manzano family to the right.

Here are he forbears of the VM project.  From left to right: Ermenio, Fernando, Vincent, Changa, and Chico. 

Here are Jorge (left) and Nue (right) two of the younger members of the team along with Kilo, one of the original members of the team.  They are the workhorses that get a lot of the behind-the-scenes work done.

 Here is a mixture of staff (Amanda in the royal blue T, Kilo to her left, and to his left Jorge) and volunteers (Cesar, Michelle, Sandi,and myself).

 Here is Fernando with some of his biggest supporters--the bulk of the TTPP--husband and wife team Laura and Scott, Sandra and Lazaro.

 I am sure that there are still even more people that I have not mentioned here.  This project takes a lot of work, and will need even more in the future as the turtle population continues to recover. 
but I digress....

I am glad to report that more often than not, we have experienced a lot of success.  In just the 10 days I have been here, I myself have witnessed the release of over 2,500 turtles.  And this is the low end of the season!  Looking at thier records, it appears as though VM workers have helped with about 600 Lora nests this season (they nest between April and June, hatching about 45 days later).  Each nest contains anywhere from 30-100 eggs.  The idea is pretty straightforward: protect the eggs from anything that might want to eat them: dogs, coyotes, crabs, birds of prey, but especially, humans.  How they achieve this goal depends on a lot of possible factors.  The largest factor is that there is a small window after an egg has been laid when it can safely be moved to a new location without harming it.  If the workers wait too long, a drastic change in temperature and moisture can kill the eggs before they even have the chance to develop.  Here are the possible methods used by VM workers a nest has been laid, from the easiest and most straightforward, to the most delicate. 

1. Best possible scenario: The turtle has laid her nest in a safe area, with few human inhabitants, boat traffic or other dangers.  In this case, the workers protect the nest with the wire mesh, mark it, and note its location in their records along with the nesting date in order to check on it later.  
2. Scenario 2: The nest was successfully laid, but in a dangeous area.  In this case, the workers (who patrol the beaches continually all day since some species of turtle nest in the day and others at night) carefully dig up the nest, and transport the eggs to a safer area, where they rebury the eggs, cover it with wire mesh, bury and mark it in their records.
3. Scenario 3:  During the high nesting season, so many nests are laid, that the workers often can't keep up with the process.  If option 2 is unavailable, sometimes they have to take one of the three possible options when moving a nest:

• Put multiple nests (deposited on the same day) next to one another so that they can be covered by the same wire mesh, and be checked or collected at the same time.  The only possible draw back is that even if turtles make their nests on the same day, there's no guarantee that their eggs will hatch on the exact same day.  You run the risk of losing any that might hatch earlier than expected.
• Once, a nest was even relocated the Fernando's yard!  It is far from ideal, but the nest was laid in a high traffic area, and there wasn't time to move it before it would harm the eggs to be moved.
• Laslty, some nests end up being reared in boxes.  This quick solution allows the workers to protect the nest in enough time, without having to go far away to re-bury it.  Each box is carefully stored in a cooler, and labeled with their date.

Once the eggs have had enough time to develop, the wokrers return to check on the nests in nature, as you saw me do last week.  Here, for example, are some very healthy eggs that are due to hatch in a few days, with the hatchlings ready to be let out into the world a few days after that.  

 

This little guy is one of the ones being raised in a box in Fernando's home.  We checked on his batch, and they were doing quite well.  They should be ready to be released in a several days.  As you can see he is still developing.

These little guys are a few days older now.  They have mostly all broken out of their eggs, but still need a couple more days to fully develop and be ready to meet the world.

 

In comparison to the nests we checked on last week, I went with my friend Ermenio earlier this week to check on a few nests.  Here 6 nests, that had been laid on the same day, were but one next to the other, and they were due to hatch today.  What good luck!  All six nests were healthy, and we collected about 800 hatchlings to bring back to camp!

This photo of hatchlings that were just born this morning.  Below it, is how they look 1-2 days later when they have fully matured, and are ready to be released.

This is where the fun really starts!  We get to share the excitement with visitors!  El Liberacion!  Every day loads of visitors line up outside our gates for thier chance to release a little Lora into the sea.  They receive a general orientation on the organization, it's history, and they work being done to protect marine turtltes. 

Then we bring them all down to the ocean, where they each get a little guy like this!  On the count of three, we carefully place them on the beach, and watch them make their way to the ocean.

It's a pretty amazing process really.  It's hard to imagine a time when there were almost no turtle nests.  But now, thanks to the work of Fernando and his crew, the future is looking much more bright for the Lora.   Despite all the hard work by the VM crew, there is still a lot of danger for the Lora, and other marine species of turtle.  As it is, even with their best effort, Fernando explained to me that for every 1,000 that are released, probably only about 300 return to nest here.  It is up to us to help try to increase that number.  Increased awareness of our environmental impact and responsible consumerism can help, as well as helping prevent avaidable disasters like the more recent oil spill in the gulf.  But I digress again.  That's another topic for another day.  But if you feel so moved, here is the link to the Tecolutla Turtle Preservation Project, an organization supporting Fernando and his crew's efforts.  Any donation would be very welcome.  But I'll leave you on a happy note.  Gorgeous images of nature at her best...

Sea Turtle Hatchlings

My first full day in Tecolutla, I decided to visit El Campo de Papa Tortuga.  I was excited to see Fernando again, and to let them all know that I had arrived safely.  I was unsure of how early the day began here, so I took my time getting ready, and made it to camp around 9:00.  When I arrived, the workers and volunteers, about 10 people in total, were just sitting down to breakfast.  I was invited to join, and we chatted our way through a lovely meal. 

As fortune would have it, I was unexpectedly given the chance to begin the process right away.  After eating, Fernando invited me to accompany Luis, one of his regular workers, to check on some nests (nidos) they expect to be hatching about now.  Anyone who knows me, would know that is not even a question.  So despite being thoroughly unprepared for the day (I was in flip flops, a t shirt and shorts, with half a bottle of water) we headed out.  The first leg of our trip was by pickup.  They took us a short ways through town and dropped us at the edge of a river.  We took the boat pictured here, to cross the river, where we changed to an ATV.  An hour and a half  of driving on roads led us to a small path to the beach.

Driving about 40 minutes down the beach, we first looked for any new nests.  As we drove, Luis pointed out tracks, describing to me whether they were from a Lora, Green, or Kemps Ridley turtle.  My spanish is not accurate enough to completely understand exactly how he could tell which is which, but I believe he said that the general size of the marks indicated the species.  I plan on asking more about that today.  Once we reached the end of the beach, there were no new nests to report.  Apparently several turtles had come up onto the beach to check the location, only to turn around and leave to go elsewhere.

With that done, we now retraced our tracks to check on nests that had already been identified and protected by the Tecolutla Turtle Preservation Project (TTPP).  We were to check on the viability of each nest, the safety of the eggs, as well as how far along in their development they were.  That day, we were checking on nests that had been laid on May 11, giving them 46 days to hatch.  Generally, eggs need about 6 weeks to mature.  If the hatchlings were ready, we would be able to set them free right then.  I couldn't wait. 

Luis had a map drawn for each nest as well as the date of when the eggs were laid.  As we located the nest, we first needed to dig.  Under about 8 inches of sand, a wire mesh was laid to cover the nest and protect it from coyotes or wild dogs that might eat the eggs.  (Already the eggs had been moved to this location from their original nesting site, in order to protect them in a more remote location, away from meddling humans.)   Once the wire mesh was peeled back, Luis carefully scooped with his hands to find the entrance of the nest.  Digging down about 8 more inches, we found about 50 eggs. 

 Carefully lifting a number of them out, and placing them to the side, Luis inspected them.  The eggs appeared discolored, brownish and deflated.  Bad news.  The eggs in this nest were not viable, with a number of possible causes--sand temperature, plant roots taking too much moisture from the surrounding sand, having been moved too long after they were laid (apparently if eggs are moved more than 30 minutes after they are laid, they will not survive).  It's impossible to know for sure what happened here, but with a heavy heart we returned the eggs to teh ground to be absorbed into nature, removing the wire mesh to reuse on another nest.  That nest was crossed off the list, and off we went to the next.

At our second nest, unfortunately, the news was the same.  It was quite discouraging.  Two nests in a row had proved unhealthy, with no possible hatchlings.  We had no choice but to carry on, and happily, the news steadlily improved.  At the next several nests, the appearance of the eggs was quite different.  They were full, bright white, and firm.  Luis held a few of the eggs carefully in his hand in order to get a sense of how far along in their development they were.  Over and over again, at about 10 mests, the news was the same: 2 to 3 more days until maturation.  Carefully we reburied the eggs, covered them with the mesh, and hid them as best we could from danger.

Finally, after 3 hours or so, I had a chance to see a hatchling.  This little guy is close, but not quite ready yet.  In 1 or 2 days he should be strong enough to make the journey.  So back in he went to mature in safety, and we will check on him in a day or two.

Finally, just as we were about to head back to the boat, Luis spottted a nest out of the corner of his eye.  Following our normal procedure, what a thrill!  2 hatchlings even further along than the previous one!  Though they still haven't fully matured, they are almost entirely out of thier shell!  Just one more day!  So close!

It was thrilling to be so close to what I consider to be miracles of nature.  These little guys were so remarkable, I found it humbling to even have the chance to see them, let alone hold one in my hand.  Though I didn't have the chance to be part of a liberacion, all told it was an interesting day, full of lots of hard work, hot sun, and the ups and downs of mother nature's process.  Overall, once I returned to my hotel, I felt inspired, but utterly exhausted.  I grabbed an early dinner, and fell asleep before it was even fully dark out.  But I am up now, and ready to do it all over again today!  I'll let you know how it goes!