Our special summer visitors, the sea turtles, have been coming ashore to lay their eggs on the beach at The Royal Sands throughout June and July, and as of August 5 there are 132 nests and 14,728 precious eggs in the turtle nursery. They are all green turtle nests with the exception of two loggerhead and one hawksbill turtles, and one nest contained a clutch of 198 eggs.
Even the approach of Hurricane Beryl did not deter the turtles from coming ashore and our team members saw one on the night of the storm. In recent days, our dedicated turtle guardians have been watching over as many as 10 female turtles in a night and many more will emerge from the sea in the weeks to come.
We are thrilled to share the news many of you have been waiting for, the first baby turtles of the season have now hatched! To date, The Royal Sands security team has released 391 tortuguitas after dark when predators such as frigate birds and seagulls have gone to roost. As the summer advances, thousands more will scuttle across the beach to begin life at sea.
We will keep you posted during the season on the vital work our security teams do as part of the annual sea turtle conservation program.
