Project Update: November 2006

The month of October has been quite full of events. The saddest one occurred and is still occurring in Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, a fishing community in Bahia Magdalena, where more than 700 sea turtles stranded without apparent reason. Different studies are currently ongoing to identify the possible cause of such a huge mortality. We also discovered some dead marine mammals and a lot of fish. At present we just can make hypothesis concerning such mortality:

- the water is really hot for the season;

- the hurricane washed away a huge amount of garbage from the arroyos and probably a lot of contaminants;

- a boat throws some contaminants in the water.

A happier event is the meeting we organized with the EcoAmigos of Mulegé (Eco-Friends of Mulegé) which is a small association of young people decided to conserve their environment. The meeting was successful and we invited all the members to join us for a beach census during which we found a nest and a sea turtle carapace. We also discussed about further cooperation and we accorded that we will meet every two months and will share our experiences.

We also had an interesting meeting with employees of the Marine national Park Bahia de Loreto. No dead turtles were found meaning that the park authority is doing a good job in informing people and prevent illegal catch.

Furthermore we had the chance to monitor Isla Arena, up to the north of Baja California Sur in the Biosphere Reserve of El Vizcaino. Again with the support of people working for the protected area we monitored the beaches and organized a “cleaning campaign”, inviting all the citizens of Guerrero Negro to clean their yards and give us their carapaces. The campaign was a success as more than 30 carapaces were collected. Guerrero Negro is a well-known area for illegal hunting of sea turtles and we hope that organizing more events we will be able to contribute to the reduction of sea turtle illegal catch.