Sea Turtle Release Isla Mujeres 9/14/13

Last night we went to the beach on the north end of Isla Mujeres to witness a turtle release of several thousand tiny little baby turtles. The eggs are protected here and a group from Centro Investigaciones Pesqueras harvests the eggs and moves them to protected areas to hatch. Then they gather up the new hatchlings and when they reach about one week of age they are released on several protected beaches. Releases are scheduled between May and October, usually at dark, so as to protect the hatchlings from birds. Several people attend  -  locals and tourists - and a few turles are handed out in cups to be handled and released. Children bring their sand pails and are allowed to have a few of their own to release. 

It was hard to get pictures as the instructions were to not use flash because it confuses the baby turtles. Also, the jostling for position to get a view was difficult. I moved into the water and then was jostled by the waves so first two pictures are out of focus. And, our camera has decided to stop working, so I am using my old cell phone.

Beach Gathering

You can see the baskets on the beach and they are full of turtles all clamoring to get out.

All the dark spots are turtles booking for the ocean. We are not supposed to help them and that is hard.

We stayed until it was quite dark watching for the stragglers, exhausted from trying to get through the surf. We couldn't help but pick up a few and put them beyond the surf line.

Below - Charlie helping and picture is very dark as I do not want to use a flash.