How are the sea turtles doing this summer? It’s a slow sea turtle nesting season so far at Royal Resorts in Cancun with 60 turtles coming ashore to lay eggs on the beaches at The Royal Sands, The Royal Caribbean and The Royal Islander as of July 24, 2018. All the nests in the turtle nurseries at the three resorts contain green turtle eggs with the exception of six loggerhead turtle nests and one hawksbill turtle nest. In total there are 7,476 eggs at present and none have hatched yet.
At Grand Residences Riviera Cancun® to the south of Puerto Morelos, 10 nests have been reported and the eggs in two nests are set to hatch in the next few days.
Sea turtle nesting is cyclical; a busy turtle season like 2017 is invariably followed by a slower year and last year saw record-breaking numbers of nests and baby turtles at Royal Resorts and in the Riviera Maya. This seems to be the case in the Mexican Caribbean so far this summer with the numbers of nesting turtles reported at different locations along the coast being lower than last year.
Turtle conservationists working at three nesting beaches on the island of Cozumel reported 290 nests as of the third week of July and there are more than 190 loggerhead and green turtle nests dotted along the Akumal shoreline in the Riviera Maya.
Remember the turtle season rules
Join us in protecting the sea turtles; follow the sea turtle nesting season rules:
• Alert resort security staff when you see a turtle on the beach at night
• Be very quiet and keep still. Loud noises, flashing lights and the movement of people startle nesting sea turtles and disrupt nesting, causing them to leave the beach without laying their eggs
• Watch from a distance of at least ten (33 feet) meters
• Do not attempt to touch the turtle or crowd her
• Do not shine a torch or use the light on your mobile phone
• Flash photography is strictly prohibited
• No smoking
• Follow the instructions given by security staff at all times
• When snorkeling or diving watch turtles from a distance, do not swim towards them and do not attempt to touch them
• Wear a t-shirt when snorkeling as protection from the sun instead of applying sun block. Sun products pollute the water and are harmful to marine life
• Turtles are protected by Mexican law and it is illegal to disturb them, persecute or hunt them and consume their meat or eggs.
• Don’t use plastic straws and switch to reusable cloth bags for shopping. Plastic drinking straws and bags are a major source of ocean pollution and are harmful to marine life.
