Turtle Nesting Season is Drawing Near

In the weeks and months ahead, adult female turtles will have completed their annual migration to the region to make nests and lay eggs. Once the location of the nests is recorded, they will be marked and protected after the female turtles return to the sea. Fences and structures are erected to safeguard the nests from birds, animals and humans until the turtles hatch, usually (but not always) starting in late September.

It’s quite a sight: thousands of turtle hatchlings the size of a silver dollar scampering across the beach to the sea. Because the hatchlings are easy prey for natural predators, these gentle reptiles need all the help they can get to reach the water, attain maturity and increase their numbers.

For more than 20 years, Pueblo Bonito Golf & Spa Resorts and now Quivira Los Cabos have taken part in a turtle protection and release program. As an environmental custodian, the resort community believes in educating residents and visitors alike about active conservation, in this case releasing turtle hatchlings from their protected nests. Why carry these critters to the sea? Because the turtles offer an essential lesson in ecology: Everything is connected.

Sea turtles are part of two critical ecosystems: beaches and marine systems. If sea turtles diminish in number, both the beach and marine ecosystems at Land’s End in Los Cabos will suffer. Sea turtles use beaches and the lower dunes to nest and lay approximately 100 eggs per nest. Dune plants use the nutrients from turtle eggs to grow and become stronger. Without the turtles, dune vegetation would lose a major source of nutrients and would not be healthy or strong enough to anchor the dunes. In time, beaches would erode and wash away. The negative impact to tourism would be incalculable.

For owners visiting the region through mid-December, Quivira offers the opportunity to join conservation team members to carry the hatchlings of four endangered species of sea turtles to the shallow surf, greatly enhancing their chances of survival. These species include Olive Ridley (the most common), Black, Loggerhead and Leatherback.

Carlos Villalobos, manager of the resort community’s Sea Turtle Protection, said that dating back to the program’s inception in 2003, “we have shielded approximately 16,000 nests and released more than one million baby turtles into the sea.” He added, “The presence of turtles in the marine and coastal ecosystems where they live and reproduce is of vital importance for the life that develops in these places.

Twenty-one years ago, a scant 83 nests were safeguarded. Currently, more than 2,000 nests are protected each season. “The program has been a resounding success,” Villalobos reported. ”The Olive Ridley turtle population in particular is recovering favorably.”

Because there is no way to know exactly when the turtles will hatch, there is no set schedule for the releases. When the eggs in a nest begin to hatch, Villalobos and his team notify Quivira Los Cabos residents as well as the resorts. The event is then organized to allow interested parties to participate. The release is usually scheduled for just before sunset on that same day. Newly hatched turtles are set free on the beaches in front of Sunset Beach and Pacifica. It’s a gratifying emancipation. It’s also a great way to assist Mother Nature—and help preserve two indispensable ecosystems.