During summer, the coast of Banderas Bay gives refuge to the female sea turtle that leave the security of the ocean to lay their eggs in the warm sand of the beaches to be incubated by the sun. Once they lay their eggs in a deep hole they make in the sand, the females return to the sea, trusting the next generation to Nature. Volunteers take care of the nests for about 50 days and guard the eggs from being eaten by racoons that dig up the eggs. Once the turtles hatch, they are prey to birds, fish and other natural predators like coati’s.
We visited a turtle camp in the evening just before sunset. We were given a little turtle that had hatched 3 hours prior. They gave us a coconut shell to hold the turtle in to keep him safe until he is released. We held the baby turtle for a short time in the coconut shell and then released him to the ocean coaxing him to run fast and swim hard. The survival rate in nature is 1 in 1,000 and with human intervention it is 1 in 100.
We are leaving the turtle sanctuary to join in the celebration of “Day of the Dead” on the Malecón in downtown Puerto Vallarta.
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