|
Marine Turtle Conservation
Dedicated to the Protection and the Conservation of Endangered Marine Turtles for the last 27 Years! Volunteer for a Minimum of $300 a Month for total Accommodations! |
Newsletter No. 255, May, 2023 ~ Grupo Ecológico
Hola Volunteers and Supporters ~
June first will begin the first day of saving nests, if a nest is found it will be move to a safer location, out of the reach of waves. poachers and away from lights..
The reconstruction of the box nursery occurs once every seven years, or three times to date since the nursery was moved off the beach and rebuilt in my yard in 2002 after Hurricane Kena. Today the primary reason for reconstruction is the replacement of the black plastic covering, which completely encases the box nursery and helps keep it at the right temperature for incubating hatchlings. Unfortunately, once we removed the old plastic covering, we discovered extensive termite damage to the wooden frame of the nursery, about 3 to 7% of the entire structure. (See image below.)
Replacing the plastic cover is an easy six-day task. On the other hand, the replacement of termite-damaged wood was a very different story. First, we had to identify the termite damage, which was tricky since the termites can’t digest paint, and so they remain hidden under the painted surface. Finding the damaged wood can take many weeks. After four trips to the lumber yard and at the cost of around 10,000 pesos, we replaced the necessary lumber and plastic covering, plus four cans of paint and two boxes of wood screws.
After all the new pieces were cut to size, painted and dried, they were inserted to replace the old pieces. The nursery was then leveled and the new plastic cover reinstalled. The final task is cleaning, repairing and placing 330 nest boxes and moving them back onto the shelves. Note, in addition to all the damage to the mursery's wood frame, 58 feet of shelving (1” by 8” boards) was also destroyed by termites. The entire job took a month, but it's a big win for us. Thankfully we only need to do this once every few years.
Our Adopt a Sea Turtle Nest program is off to a great start! We have already raised $868.00 towards our $7,500 goal. We want to thank everyone that has generously participated in the program so far: Brian Pittluck, Rebecca Signorello, Jonathan Kingston, Ronald Walsh, Sara Finnegan-Doyon. Kerry McCoy, Amy Glaza, Steve Raschke, Patricia Schmidt, Martin Reichl, McCann & Sons, and Carol Harootunian For more information on our Adopt a Nest program go to the following link: https://www.project-tortuga.org/adopt-a-nest.html. This is a great gift opportunity for the turtle or nature lover in your life. Nests can also be adopted “in memory of” someone or on behalf of a company. Thank you for helping us reach our fundraising goals!
Here's exciting news for all our donors; Grupo Ecológico has applied for charity status with the IRS in the USA, and has partnered with an existing US charity, Travler.org. This means that starting now, you can take a US tax deduction on donations to Grupo Ecológico! We can also offer US corporations and foundations tax exemption on their grants and contributions to Grupo Ecológico. We are waiting for the IRS to approve our own charity status, which may take several months. But starting now you can still take a tax deduction for your donations to us by making them through Travler, a US charity that has supported Grupo Ecológico for several years. Click on this link to make a tax-deductible contribution to Grupo Eco.
Trying to reach the beach: At this point in time, we have only four approved and safe paths onto the beach. Two can be used by the buggy, all four by the Can-Am, and only one can be used by the CRV in the case of an emergency. The alley on the north side of Las Olas will hopefully be repaired soon.
April volunteers: Elvia Garcia, Taylor Kimbell, Karen Sorum and Hallie Loveridge, Blandine Clement and Nick Sanders. If interested, join us by going to our Volunteer application page, and please spread the word about our volunteering opportunity.
Weather-wise: May temperatures during the days were in the high 80°, while nighttime temps were in the low 70°. Over the past five months we received .04 inches of rain. So far this year there have been no tropical storm activities.
We are extremely appreciative to have received donations from: Susan Stephens, Jennifer Nelsen, Randall Collins, Brian Culligan and Sally Williams. Without your help our work would be difficult. The essential reconstruction of the box nursery has cost us much more than we had expected. Please help us if you can by contributing at our PayPal site, or for US citizens who want a tax deduction go to the Travler Paypal site and the funds will be forwarded to Grupo Eco.
Frank Smith, Director.
Elvia Garcia, Secretary
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Our email is: grupo-eco@project-tortuga.org
Our website is: http://www.project-tortuga.org
Adopt a Nest: https://www.project-tortuga.org/adopt-a-nest.html
https://www.facebook.com/ProjectTortuga/
https://www.instagram.com/projecttortugasanpancho/
For new Volunteers https://www.project-tortuga.org/handbook.html
Photo one, Termite damaged wood from the box nursery. Photo two removing boxes from the nursery.
Photo three, Removing the black plastic covering. Photo four, The entire front of the nursery was destroyed by termites.
June first will begin the first day of saving nests, if a nest is found it will be move to a safer location, out of the reach of waves. poachers and away from lights..
The reconstruction of the box nursery occurs once every seven years, or three times to date since the nursery was moved off the beach and rebuilt in my yard in 2002 after Hurricane Kena. Today the primary reason for reconstruction is the replacement of the black plastic covering, which completely encases the box nursery and helps keep it at the right temperature for incubating hatchlings. Unfortunately, once we removed the old plastic covering, we discovered extensive termite damage to the wooden frame of the nursery, about 3 to 7% of the entire structure. (See image below.)
Replacing the plastic cover is an easy six-day task. On the other hand, the replacement of termite-damaged wood was a very different story. First, we had to identify the termite damage, which was tricky since the termites can’t digest paint, and so they remain hidden under the painted surface. Finding the damaged wood can take many weeks. After four trips to the lumber yard and at the cost of around 10,000 pesos, we replaced the necessary lumber and plastic covering, plus four cans of paint and two boxes of wood screws.
After all the new pieces were cut to size, painted and dried, they were inserted to replace the old pieces. The nursery was then leveled and the new plastic cover reinstalled. The final task is cleaning, repairing and placing 330 nest boxes and moving them back onto the shelves. Note, in addition to all the damage to the mursery's wood frame, 58 feet of shelving (1” by 8” boards) was also destroyed by termites. The entire job took a month, but it's a big win for us. Thankfully we only need to do this once every few years.
Our Adopt a Sea Turtle Nest program is off to a great start! We have already raised $868.00 towards our $7,500 goal. We want to thank everyone that has generously participated in the program so far: Brian Pittluck, Rebecca Signorello, Jonathan Kingston, Ronald Walsh, Sara Finnegan-Doyon. Kerry McCoy, Amy Glaza, Steve Raschke, Patricia Schmidt, Martin Reichl, McCann & Sons, and Carol Harootunian For more information on our Adopt a Nest program go to the following link: https://www.project-tortuga.org/adopt-a-nest.html. This is a great gift opportunity for the turtle or nature lover in your life. Nests can also be adopted “in memory of” someone or on behalf of a company. Thank you for helping us reach our fundraising goals!
Here's exciting news for all our donors; Grupo Ecológico has applied for charity status with the IRS in the USA, and has partnered with an existing US charity, Travler.org. This means that starting now, you can take a US tax deduction on donations to Grupo Ecológico! We can also offer US corporations and foundations tax exemption on their grants and contributions to Grupo Ecológico. We are waiting for the IRS to approve our own charity status, which may take several months. But starting now you can still take a tax deduction for your donations to us by making them through Travler, a US charity that has supported Grupo Ecológico for several years. Click on this link to make a tax-deductible contribution to Grupo Eco.
Trying to reach the beach: At this point in time, we have only four approved and safe paths onto the beach. Two can be used by the buggy, all four by the Can-Am, and only one can be used by the CRV in the case of an emergency. The alley on the north side of Las Olas will hopefully be repaired soon.
April volunteers: Elvia Garcia, Taylor Kimbell, Karen Sorum and Hallie Loveridge, Blandine Clement and Nick Sanders. If interested, join us by going to our Volunteer application page, and please spread the word about our volunteering opportunity.
Weather-wise: May temperatures during the days were in the high 80°, while nighttime temps were in the low 70°. Over the past five months we received .04 inches of rain. So far this year there have been no tropical storm activities.
We are extremely appreciative to have received donations from: Susan Stephens, Jennifer Nelsen, Randall Collins, Brian Culligan and Sally Williams. Without your help our work would be difficult. The essential reconstruction of the box nursery has cost us much more than we had expected. Please help us if you can by contributing at our PayPal site, or for US citizens who want a tax deduction go to the Travler Paypal site and the funds will be forwarded to Grupo Eco.
Frank Smith, Director.
Elvia Garcia, Secretary
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Our email is: grupo-eco@project-tortuga.org
Our website is: http://www.project-tortuga.org
Adopt a Nest: https://www.project-tortuga.org/adopt-a-nest.html
https://www.facebook.com/ProjectTortuga/
https://www.instagram.com/projecttortugasanpancho/
For new Volunteers https://www.project-tortuga.org/handbook.html
Photo one, Termite damaged wood from the box nursery. Photo two removing boxes from the nursery.
Photo three, Removing the black plastic covering. Photo four, The entire front of the nursery was destroyed by termites.
|
|
Unsubscribe
Come Visit our Turtle Nursery!
Call in advance so we can prepare for your visit!
Please Note that we work at Night so Morning Calls May be Missed.
|
Grupo Ecologico de la Costa Verde
102 America Latina, San Pancho, Nayarit, Mexico Tel: 311-258-4100 Email: projecttortuga@gmail.com grupo-eco@project-tortuga.org |