Fantastic news from the sea turtle protection team at Royal Resorts in Cancun, the first 237 baby turtles of the year were born during the last week of July and have been released to begin life at sea.
In other news, the 2014 sea turtle nesting season is heating up and the tally of nests in the corrals at The Royal Sands and The Royal Caribbean now stands at 102 with 11,607 eggs (August 1 statistics). There are also two nests at Grand Residences Riviera Cancun in Puerto Morelos.
Throughout the summer and into the fall, Royal Resorts security staff patrol the beaches every night on the lookout for nesting turtles. They carefully move the eggs to a nest in a corral where they are watched over round the clock and are safe from the passage of human feet, the waves and predators such as seabirds, crabs and dogs.
The eggs hatch 45 to 60 days later and after a few hours the tiny turtles are ready to be released and will scuttle across the beach towards the waves. In the coming weeks, many more tortuguitas will begin their epic journey and hopefully in 12 to 15 years will emerge from the sea to lay their own eggs on the same beach.
Stay posted for further updates on this blog as the 2014 sea turtle season continues.
