For all our members who keep track of our Royal Resorts turtle news during the season, the tally of nests in the corral at The Royal Sands is 314 nests with 36,160 eggs. To date, 7,923 hatchlings have been released by our security team and many more will hatch during the weeks to come.

Each nest in the corral is labeled with the species, number of eggs and the date and time of nesting. As turtle eggs take between 45 and 60 days to hatch, this gives our eco guardians an idea of which nests will hatch next, and they monitor them round the clock on the lookout for signs of movement.

When the eggs begin to hatch, the turtles must chip away at the soft shells to make a hole so that they can struggle out. Breaking free is a huge task for such tiny creatures and it leaves them exhausted. However, the call of the sea is so strong that they are soon ready to go. The sand begins to rise and fall as they move around in the nest. The first heads and flippers appear on the surface and suddenly you are looking at hundreds of them.

The security guards wait until dusk or after dark to release the turtles. This is done to keep them safe from predatory gulls, pelicans and frigate birds, which will have gone to roost by then. The tortuguitas scuttle across the sand towards the sea and the waves breaking, and then they are gone.

When they are ready to nest, the adult females are drawn back to the beaches on which they were born. Marine biologists believe they use the shoreline’s unique magnetic signature to find their way. Hopefully, in 12 to 15 years some of them will return to lay their own eggs on the beaches of Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean.