Newsletter No.  250,  December  2022  ~  Grupo Ecológico

Hola Volunteers and Supporters ~

Over the years many marine turtle nurseries and some individuals have incubated and/or collected hundreds of hatchlings to sell to hotels and resorts. These hatchlings are used to entice new guests and motivate other guest to return.  With their eyes on the bottom-line, the hotels may hold the hatchlings for days, or even up to a week before releasing them.

I have a problem with this. It is extremely important that all hatchlings enter the sea as soon as possible after reaching the surface of the beach.  While climbing to the surface the hatchling depends on the energy drawn into their body from their yolk-sack.  This energy is limited, and critical for them to breathe while under the sand, to reach the sea, to swim for three to seven days and nights, all without eating or resting. So, when the hotels hold these hatchlings for later release to entertain their guests, they are basically giving the hatchlings a death sentence.
 
An account of nests and hatchlings this season.   
 
 44,048 Hatchlings released from the box nursery.
 38,567 Hatchlings from nests relocated on the beach. This amount is approximate due to a tropical storm.
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 82,615 Hatchlings that had made their way to the sea this season or 83%.
 99,876 Marine turtle eggs protected this season.
 
1,650,000 Total hatchlings released since 1992
    
   519 Nests placed in boxes
   495 Relocated on the beach in better locations
     39 Poached or .036%
     19 Washed-out or .018%
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1,072 Total nests were recorded
  
Run-down of our expenses for season 2022:
 
  27,890 pesos, relocation nests on the beach and placing in the box nursery.
  21,990 pesos, care and maintenance of the dune buggy and Can-Am.
  32,220 pesos, gasoline for the dune buggy and Can-Am.
  34,210 pesos, other office supplies including cost of transportation and office equipment.
  60,170 pesos, volunteer housing.
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176,480 pesos, total expenses, $8,825 dollars, this amount is a little below normal.
 
              The following three expenses are not normal, but were necessary.   
  24,000 pesos, being short of volunteers it was necessary to hire help to collect nests.
135,000 pesos, for the purchase of the new Can-Am.
  24,000 pesos, replacement of the dune buggy motor.
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359,480 pesos total expenses for the entire 2022 season, which in dollars came to $9,150 USD above our normal expenses.
 
As a result, we are lower on operating funds than usual. Donations in 2023 are very important, as mentioned below.
 
Below is a list of all volunteers that joined us during the 2022 season, in the order they arrived:  Karen Sorum, Hallie Loveridge, Trinity Niko, Marci Farmer, Jessica Schmidt, Mark Hiller, Christian Garcia, Jennifer Tsai, Veronica Bishop, Esteban Millard, Angie Dean, Roman and Ryven Schlichting, Pauline Catalano, Louie and Louise Christensen, Montserrat Iniesta Lopez, Quetzalli Balderas, Stacey Hunter, Astrid Avendaño, Bergen de Koch, Taylor Kimble, Yanet Palzola, Rickey Burke, Susan Stephens, Kiley Branson, Tyler Orien, and Jayden Charlton.
 
The volunteers listed above preformed an outstanding job of protecting our local marine turtle.  A heartfelt thanks from all of us, and we are looking forward to your return.

December volunteers:  Taylor Kimbell, Rick Burke and Susan Stephens. 
 
We are looking for at least 28 good volunteers to join us this coming 2023 nesting season.  The worst of the pandemic is behind us, and San Pancho has blossomed into a beautiful place to hang out.  Please go to our Volunteer Application.

Steve Raschke created a new digital magazine that covers lots of things happening in San Pancho. It's a great collection of stories and information not found across most social media sites. Look at https://sanpanchovoz.com/.

Weather-wise: Temperatures during the day were in the high 70’s° to the mid 80’s°, while nighttime temps were in the high 60’s° to low 70’s°. We had no rain in December, total rainfall for the year came to 37.46 inches. 

We are very thankful to have received donations from:  Joseph Cavallaro, Susan Stephens, 3D Digital Photos, Jennifer Nelsen, Caren Elkan, Richard Spotts, Rachel Brown, Sarah Hunnewell, Karen and jeff Wilson and Shota Guterres.  Without your donations our work would be nearly impossible.  Our financial reserves are far below normal due to the raise in our cost of renting this property, plus the purchase of the Can-Am and the past effects of the pandemic.  Please help if you can by contributing at our PayPal site.

Town and country-wise: Regular gasoline is around $ 4.41 dollars per gallon.  The exchange rate is around 18.5 to 20 pesos per dollar. 
 
Frank Smith, Director.
Elvia Garcia, Secretary
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Our email is: [email protected]
Our website is: http://www.project-tortuga.org
https://www.facebook.com/ProjectTortuga/
https://www.instagram.com/projecttortugasanpancho/
For new volunteers: https://www.project-tortuga.org/handbook.html
 

On the dune buggy, the seats, gas tank and tires are removed ready for weld and to be rebuild. The purchase of Can-am was well worth the expense

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Grupo Ecologico de la Costa Verde
102 America Latina,
San Pancho, Nayarit, Mexico
Tel: 311-258-4100
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]