The struggle for sea turtle protection on Mexico’s Pacific coast continues as two men were arrested May 17, 2010 in Acapulco with 5,830 sea turtle eggs.  Although one of the suspects had been arrested for similar charges in the past, the crime is punishable with up to nine years in prison.  Sadly, one cannot assume that this poaching is an isolated incident and that there are others doing the exact same thing.  Luckily in this case, the eggs were still so fresh when the arrest was made that they were quickly transported to a local turtle hatchery where the hope is that some survive.  There are numerous sea turtle hatcheries on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

See the full AP article here.

Our guests spend time with the Colola Beach program where it is estimated that 70% of the world’s black sea turtles originate.  During our time with them we will release in excess of 900 hatchlings and collect an additional 800 to 1,200 eggs.  The people at Colola Beach dedicate 100% of their time to the sea turtle effort throughout the year and are truly making a difference to populations.  The University of Michoacan calculates nesting rates to be up as much as 30% over the past 20 years!

You can join us as we help in their efforts on our  Sea Turtle Migration Tour.