Newsletter No.  249,  November  2022  ~  Grupo Ecológico

Hola Volunteers and Supporters ~

Along the center of our beach is a steep cut-bank created by the last tropical storm. A new beach is taking shape below the steep edge.  The lower beach is just wide enough for marine turtles to safely lay their nests, and smooth enough for us to travel the entire length of the beach in search of nests.  From the center northward the beach is still covered with tons of driftwood, with little effort made yet to clean it up. Unfortunately, this driftwood is a serious barrier to some hatchlings that are trying to make their way to the sea, but people are helping them.

As a reminder, we will not have hatchlings to release after November 30th. By the end of November, the box nursery contained only three nests, while the beach contained about sixty. All are due to hatch within the next 45 days.  

This season, the number of hatchlings released from our box nursery came to about 44,145, while the beach produced approximately 38,570 hatchlings for a grand total of approximately 82,715. The reason these figures are approximate is due to the last tropical storm that pushed high waves and driftwood for hours through the alleyways up to Calle Cuba and Las Palmas. We had anticipated such an event and placed the nests in scattered high locations along the beach. The total number of recorded nests this season came to 1,171, with 519 which were placed in the box nursery, and 496 relocated on the beach. About 39 were taken by poachers, and 17 were washed out.

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/.

We just had preventive maintenance performed on our Can-Am. It was amazing, complete including a computer scan, leaving nothing unchecked, and tuned up. The next overhaul comes after 100 hours of use. The dune buggy is in need of repairs again. The main supporting rail on the passenger side needs to be completely replaced, (the old iron railing is part of the old 1967 construction, see image below). The front end also needs to be adjusted, and it's time for a complete paint job.

Aside from repairing the dune buggy, the box nursery itself needs to be revamped including new plastic covering and repairing extensive termite damage.  The nursery itself needs has to be straighten and leveled again.

November volunteers:  Cristian Garcia, Taylor Kimbell, Rick Burke, Susan Stephens and Jayden Charlton.  We are looking for at least 28 good volunteers to help us this coming 2023 nesting season.  The threat of the pandemic is far behind us and San Pancho has blossomed into a beautiful place to live.  Please go to our Volunteer Application.

Weather-wise: Temperatures during the day were in the mid to high 80’s°, while nighttime temps were in the high 60’s° to low 70’s°. We had no rain in November, and so far, the year's rainfall came to 37.46 inches.  As expected, it's all-around good weather although I am hoping for a warm winter.

We are very thankful to have received donations from:  Dorothy Reilly, Claudia Kroberger, Susan Stephens, Terry West, Ronald Walsh, Jennifer Nelsen, Sally Williams, Matt Johnson, Joseph Luedtke, Arthur Robbins, Isles Bamberger, Karen Hope, Susan Brain, Kayleigh McKenzie, Brian Culligan and Joseph Cavallaro.  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 pesos per dollar.  Not to get into town politics, but the rumor is that the condominium may have to be removed off of government land or the federal zone. That would be good news for the hundreds of marine turtles that had tried to nest but then had to move farther up shore.

Frank Smith, Director
Secretary, Elvia Garcia
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.project-tortuga.org
Facebook page: San Pancho Marine Turtle Project
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/projecttortugasanpancho
Tel. 311 258 4100

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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]