Last night was the first official patrol on Playa Ventanas. Due to the timing of the ocean tides and our growing staff of biologists (now up to 7), we were able to have 3 teams patrolling the entire beach from 11 PM until 5 AM. Fortunately, I was scheduled to walk Playa Ventanas on its inaugural patrol. On our very first sweep of the beach we came across 2 nesting Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). We collected data from the turtles and then needed to relocate both clutches of eggs due to high risks of predation and tidal inundation. On our trek to the hatchery with bags full of turtle eggs, we were pleasantly surprised to find a bale of hatchlings crawling their way to the sea. We stopped for a while to ensure that all of the hatchlings successfully arrived in the water and began their journey out to sea. As we neared the hatchery, we discovered another sea turtle laying her eggs. That clutch also needed to be relocated and we had the team from North beach arrive to assist in the relocation process. Once the nests were safely buried in the hatchery, we returned to our patrolling activities along Playa Ventanas. The excitement was over, yet we had 3 more hours to patrol the beach. (I will explain patrol activities in greater detail on future posts and I apologize for not having photos of turtles/hatchlings. Due to our permits and regulations within the national park, we are not allowed to take photographs at night.) This night was a little busier than usual, but it had the added bonus of witnessing hatchlings emerge. Finishing as the sun came up, we returned to the station, cleaned up our sandy-selves, and caught up on some much-needed sleep. |
| Playa Ventanas |
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