Be Free Little Tortugas! š¢
I've always loved sea turtles. From the first time swimming with them at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, then seeing turtles tracks on the beach one morning where we were camping (when she came up to lay her eggs) and then again, seeing them fishing in Cabo with Bob a few years ago. They're so beautiful and graceful in the water. I love that they can travel thousands of miles around the globe but always go back to where they were hatched to lay their eggs for the next generation (and they don't even have Google Maps!)
So of course when Christina heard about the turtle release program from a lady on the beach a few weeks ago, it was definitely on our to do list!
Pueblo Bonito Sunset resort has an ecological program that employs marine scientists in the Turtle Protection and Release Program. This ensures the safety of the turtles so they have a greater chance at survival. (getting to the ocean anyway)
The resort is just a 10 minute drive from us so we decided to make a day of it and spend the afternoon at the pool first. It was so busy, note to self - don't do a resort day on the weekend! We finally managed to find a couple of loungers that the 5 of us shared and ordered mojitos, margaritas and lunch. At sunset we jumped on the shuttle for a quick ride down to the beach.
The staff did all the work which was nice and easy.. for us! There must have been about a hundred of them in the crate and we were able to hold them before he took them down to the water. What a cool experience to have this little prehistoric sea creature in my hands. It's little flippers trying to swim that I almost dropped it. Isabella was so excited, all day she was asking me "can we hold the baby turtles?"
How cool is that??!
We stayed on the beach until the sun set, took tons of photos and video and marvelled in how awesome it was to see these little guys making their way into the ocean, where hopefully some will survive. At least the seagulls couldn't swoop in and snack on them before they got to the water!
For $15/person (donation to the conservation project) what value for such an amazing experience! You have to be staying at one of the Pueblo Bonitos resorts or properties to sign up for the tour. They hatch from October to mid-December and it seems like they release them very often. Contact the concierge desk on the day you want to go and they'll add you to the list if there is availability.
Below is a quick one minute video recap of the day. Enjoy!
Here in the Baja, four of the seven near extinct species - Loggerhead, Black, Leatherback, and Olive Ridley sea turtles return to make their nests in the summer months, from which thousands of offspring will hatch by the end of the year.
Here's some fun facts about Sea Turtles:
1. Through the process of evolution, sea turtles became distinct from their land counterparts 110 million years ago, at the very least.
2. The largest of the seven species of sea turtle is the Leatherback, which can grow up to 3 meters (just over 9 ft) and 700 kilograms (just over 1500 pounds).
3. Unlike land turtles, sea turtles cannot draw their arms, legs, or head inside their shells.
4. When asleep, the sea turtle can stay below the waves for up to 7 hours.
5. When a female sea turtle deposits her āclutchā (that is, her eggs), she will produce somewhere between 50 and 350 eggs at a time, depending on her species.
If you can't get down to Cabo but want to join the Sea Turtle Conservancy to help Sea Turtles all over the world check this out https://myfahlo.com/collections/save-the-turtles
I kinda like Turtles š¢.. lol the white bracelet with the blue turtle on the far right is from the above website and Izzy made me the bracelet in the middle photo š
and that's one more thing crossed off my Bucket List!
