Pacific Turtle Protection and Conservation - Mexico

Product Details

These important conservation projects operate along the coast in an effort to protect endangered olive ridley, leatherback and rare eastern Pacific green turtles from poachers and predators. All are protected by international and Mexican law. This is achieved by locating, collecting and incubating the hundreds of thousands of eggs laid between July and early December on the beaches.

In addition to this the projects promote an environmental awareness to local people and schoolchildren. The three locations, Higuera Blanca, Platanitos and Rincon de Guabitos are on stunning, isolated beaches backed with palm trees. Platanitos is a remote fishing hamlet and the project is managed by the American Robert Hancock. Higuera Blanca is managed by a retired vet called Guilberto Gallindo and Rincon de Guabitos is managed by the extremely knowledgeable and dedicated environmentalist Vicente Aldrete. Vicente speaks fluent English. They are all assisted by small teams of Mexican volunteers. These are normally dedicated biology students from the university.

The projects receive a small amount of government funding but depend completely on volunteers for their day-to-day operations. Each project focuses on long-term protection, research and education of local people who still consider the eggs to be a delicacy and kill rather than release the mature turtles when they become entangled in their fishing nets.

Responsibilities and activities

Volunteers comb the expansive length of beaches on horseback, quad-bike or foot, every night, looking for nests, eggs and mature female turtles. The eggs are taken back to a protected hatchery. This needs daily maintenance. After 45 days of incubation the baby turtles hatch and are released into the ocean. Volunteers will come away with extensive understanding of the turtle life-cycle and behaviour as well as other related issue of marine ecology and coastal environmental issues.

They will also be able to assist the various educational programmes and action plans involving local children in environmental education, resource management and beach clean-up Volunteers will also learn to use a ‘beach buggy’ vehicle. At Platanitos volunteers will be asked to help feed and look after baby crocodiles kept in a series of pens and later in the season to assist on an ornithology project.

Accommodation, food, language and time off

At Platanitos volunteers will live with other volunteers in basic palapa accommodation on the beach. In Higuera Blanca they will live in a private part of the superviser's house and in Rincon they will live in a palapa on the beach but also have a private room in the superviser's house. The town of Rincon has some lively restaurants, Platanitos and Higuera have a few basic places selling seafood but most meals are organised communally on the projects.

There is normally an English speaker managing the project but most of the Mexican assistants as well as the children speak only Spanish. Although volunteers will be with fellow Outreach volunteers they should expect to communicate in Spanish. There are set timetables and daily routines in this project (as part of the team work) so time off needs to be discussed with the supervisors. Volunteers should assume they will participate between 5-6 full days every week. This section of the Pacific almost always has surf for those interested in surfing and boogie-boarding in time off! A kayak is available for volunteers and swimming is excellent.

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Our users say...
"The first time I saw a mother turtle laying eggs on the beach was so real and very emotional. I never imagined these magnificent creatures would stimulate my maternal instincts. It was most beautiful to have a ceiling of bright stars and crashing waves; a lullaby we fell asleep to" - Caroline McCarthy.

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