Turtle
Sanctuary
If you are visiting Estrella del Mar, you will want to
take advantage of a free tour of our Turtle Preserve.
This on site facility was established to help protect
the sea turtle. You'll learn all about this facinating
species, will be given the opportunity to observe them
up close, and may even be permitted to hold one.
The Turtle Preserve is fun for adults and children and
you'll want to make sure you
bring your camera.
A trip to the sanctuary is not only educational,
but a rare treat to see these magnificant creatures up close
A celebrity visiting Estrella del Mar helps release
baby
turtles back into the sea
It is a long trip to the sea
Children of diverse educational
and social backgrounds
were invited to the Turtle Sanctuary
and given a tour
Learn more about the turtle sanctuary - click here.
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Learn about the research and protection programs at the Turtle Sanctuary
...read on.
Established in 1998, the Estrella del Mar Turtle Sanctuary was created
with the single goal of protecting and conserving the
sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea species). With 3.5 miles
of beach habitat at Estrella del Mar, we wanted to make
sure that our development lived in concert with the natural
environment.
Every summer the Olive Sea Turtles return to their native beaches
to lay their eggs. Turtles come from hundreds of miles
away to this location to participate in a ritual that
has occurred for thousands of years. Turtles are the last
living representatives of the “Jurassic Period”
and scientists can trace these creatures to the days of
the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, many of the world’s
beaches are now full of developments as man continues
to encroach on the turtle’s habitat. This has significantly
reduced the reproductive success of turtles to such an
extent that sea turtles are in danger of becoming extinct.
To
illustrate, there are eight existing sea turtle species
in the world, all of them are listed on the “The
Endangered Species List.” Mexico has seven of these
species and has made a commitment to protect these turtles.
At
Estrella Del Mar, we have made a serious commitment to
protect these creatures and the results from our efforts
encourage us to become an example for future developments
to follow.
Rare site of a turtle laying eggs during the day - courtesy of Mrs. Millerabout
what we do.
What
we do
The summer months represent the breeding season and we are
busy for the entire summer. The first turtles start arriving
at the beginning of the rainy season. Once these turtles
arrive the workers (usually volunteers) work around the
clock
.
We try to locate the trails left in the sand from the
turtles and follow them to the turtle’s nest. If
we successfully locate the nest we excavate, catalog,
and then relocate the eggs to a protected nursery at our
camp where the eggs are free from predators and man. The
eggs are placed at the exact depth that the mother laid
them and allowed to incubate for 45 days.
After 45 days has passed, we get to witness the miracle of life
as these shiny
,
precious little creatures dig their way out of the nest,
shake off bits of sand and open their eyes to their new
world.
Normally,
these hatchlings would immediately return to the sea;
however we try to allow the baby turtles time to recover
for a brief period of time before placing them back on
the sand and allowing them to imprint their birth place
and then make a dash for the water.
Since
1998, our efforts have resulted in more than a five fold
increase in both the number of eggs being collected and
the 
number
of hatchlings For example, in 2002 we collected
39,115 eggs and hatched and released 29,014 baby olive
sea turtles.
For
more complete results and explanations of our rescue process,
click here.
To view our 2007 research results, click here.
During the off season, the camp is used to heal injured turtles
and serve as an educational source for visitors and most
importantly, local children. We have a number of seminars
and work closely with local government agencies and schools.
