![]() Cozumel Vacation Villas and Condos
![]() |
|
Share this page: Saving the Sea Turtles |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our interest in sea turtles stemmed from our scuba diving experiences. We have been fortunate to observe these giants of the deep blue sea on numerous occasion. While these huge shelled animals can spend up to two hours under water, they need air to survive and thus surface from time to time. It's an exhilarating opportunity to watch these graceful creatures as they glide freely through the open water. We were delighted to see so many sea turtles recently while diving in Cozumel; one turtle swam along side us for about 8 minutes then surfaced to catch a breath of air and returned to us at about 60 feet. What magnificent animals!
In Akumal the eggs are left in the nest and a sign indicating the date of deposit is posted by members of the turtle protection program. When the eggs hatch (photo above left), the turtles will make their way to the sea. In Cozumel, the turtle watchers dig up the eggs immediately after they have been laid. They take the eggs to a protected area where they bury them again and put wire fencing around each nest. This protects the eggs from predators such as dogs, iguanas, birds and people. When the turtles hatch (after about 65 days), the babies are released onto the beach and they make their way into the sea.
Sea turtles are not nearly as graceful when they are out of the water; they slowly lumber across the sand and laboriously dig their nest to deposit their eggs. Once they begin laying their eggs, spectators can approach. Photo at right shows volunteer (Ricardo) collecting the new eggs. When finished laying, the female returns to the ocean where she will mate and come ashore when it is time to lay her eggs once again. While the mature turtles are laying eggs there is other activity on the beach as baby turtles are ready to be released to the ocean. The young ones are positioned close to the water's edge and all lights are off as the babies scramble to the sea. Once there, they probably live in shallow areas where they survive With additional funding and more involvement, the program could do much more. If you are interested in saving the sea turtles and you would be willing to make a small donation, you can help preserve these magnificent animals. Here's a link for more information: https://www.facebook.com/CozumelTurtles
|
![]() Cozumel Vacation Villas and Condos
![]() |