8/13/12

Pictures were taken during and after hurricane Ernesto, Video was taken at Half Moon Bay on 8/13/12 11:00 am

The most damage from Ernesto in Akumal was mainly debris and rocks washed ashore, some turtle nests that were washed away and the loss of turtle nest place markers.

The good news is that the damage seems to be much lower than originally anticipated to the turtle nests. It is estimated that we lost no more than ten to twenty percent of our turtle nests, still sad but it could have easily been much worse.

Thanks to the CEA (Centro Ecologico Akumal) volunteers, dedicated property owners and some caring tourist’s tireless efforts HMB is back in full swing.

Cleanup was completed in a timely manner by most property owners and with pictures taken of all the turtle nests stakes at HMB before the hurricane CEA volunteers along with some property owner's we were able to quickly place new nest markers with proper nesting dates close enough to the original place markers at HMB.

With strong winds and almost no rain at all on 8/08/12 volunteers were able to quickly get started to find and save as many eggs and turtles as possible.

On the evening of 8/06/12 well over 300 turtles hatched and made it safely to the ocean.

On 8/07/12 before the hurricane we had 104 staked and dated turtle nest at HMB.

On the morning of 8/08/12 after the hurricane we had only 16 staked and dated turtle nest markers at HMB.

Just over 300 eggs were collected among the debris, of those collected 100 were relocated 50 are in incubation and the remaining were disposed of.

Approximately 30 turtles were found dead and 42 alive which were held for release when the weather cleared. Two of the live turtles were taken to the Xcaret natural park biologist for examination.
.
On 8/09/12 after the effort of volunteers we had 94 staked and dated turtle nest at HMB. We had several turtles come on shore to nest and 40 baby turtles were released.

On 8/11/12 the first verified turtle nest was marked at HMB and two baby green turtles (the first of the season) were reported found at HMB and were released that evening.

It is obvious from this experience that as a team focused on the same goal we can make a huge difference in the outcome of some things that we feel we have no control over.

Thanks once again to a great effort by CEA volunteers, property owners and tourist in minimizing the damage from the hurricane and getting things back to normal quickly at Half Moon Bay Akumal, Mexico.

Note: The turtle program at CEA (Ecological Center of Akumal) is in need of contributions for public awareness materials, place makers, hand held lamps, head lamps, batteries, two way radios, two night vision and infra-red cameras and some materials to minimize the damage from future hurricanes.
All contributions will be greatly appreciated.
It is expected that turtles will continue to come on shore to nest until the end of September and hatchings to continue until the end of November.

Please click the link below for contributions

http://www.ceakumal.org/