First Turtle Nest of 2021
[Our internet access has been limited since we've minimized expenses, so our updates may post asynchronously.]
Update: July 4, 2021
Announcing the first turtle nest of 2021
The first turtle nest of 2021 has been found, which means that the Turtle Rescue Season 2021 at the Tapiche Jungle Reserve has officially begun!
A surprising cold front had moved through the jungle for a few days at the end of June, and we started monitoring the beaches just after the chill subsided. On the night of July 4 we found the first turtle nest, about 2 weeks later than in past years. The turtles seem to make their nests during and just after sunset, before the first light of the rising moon starts illuminating the beaches.
When monitoring the beaches, we first look for signs of the turtles walking on the beaches, like footprints emerging out of the water and walking around the beach. Sometimes the turtles come out of the water but don't make their nests yet. They sometimes even walk around the whole beach only to get back into the water and leave. We suspect that they are checking out the nesting conditions of the sand and the beach in general.
Other times the footprints will lead you to a nest. In the first photo you can see what this year's first nest looked like; you can see that the area has been disturbed, because the surface of the ground where the nest is placed looks different from the surrounding sand. There also is a little mound of sand just below or downhill of the nest, which is the sand the turtle dug out to lay her eggs. Some turtles will even out this little mound after they finish making their nest, though this one just left the mound as it was. This nest was from a Yellow-spotted River Turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) and contained 32 beautiful eggs.
After carefully retrieving these eggs from the nest, we transferred them into a bucket with sand to bring them back to the lodge and bury them in our incubation boxes. We then close up the empty nest at the beach and even out the nest again so that the beach is ready for more turtles to come and nest.
With this first nest found and the weather conditions finally turning more favorable for the turtles, we are expecting to find more nests in the coming days. We are staying alert and will continue monitoring the beaches several times a day. We are focused on saving as many turtle nests as possible again this year to help the protection and conservation of these vulnerable species.
If you would like to support the Turtle Rescue Project, our GoFundMe https://gofund.me/472e0a00 remains open, and funds will be used to sustain operations and pay local staff since we still don't have a stable tourism income. Thank you so much!
