Saving The Turtle Eggs

"On September 3, a friend told me that he’d seen turtles on the beach to the east of the panga harbor at Punta Mita, Banderas Bay," writes young Kati Milleson, who lives in the El Faro condo project nearby. "So I went to the beach to check it out, and found that other turtles had come ashore to lay their eggs. Over the next 24 hours, we found 15 nests that held over 1,500 eggs. This was even more than we found last time.  After collecting the eggs from these nests, some local marines and I took them to a private section of beach where they will be protected until they hatch. It’s important that there be a turtle egg sanctuary, because if they weren’t protected, the locals would take the eggs and sell them. They are supposed to be a great aphrodisiac, so they are worth a lot of money. You think people would use Viagra instead, which is available all over Mexico. I can’t wait until the eggs hatch so I can return to the sanctuary to help release them back to the wild."

Thanks to efforts such as Kati’s, turtles have made such a great comeback on Banderas Bay that it’s not uncommon to see them swimming around. It’s a beautiful sight. Richard Bernard of the Valiant 40 Surf Ride says he’s seeing a lot more in the waters off of Hawaii, too, again thanks to the turtle eggs being protected.