Cozumel, Quintana Roo, (July 23, 2021).- Dozens of turtle hatchlings have been found dead on San Martín beach, on the eastern side of this island, next to sargassum mounds, which apparently could not cross the beach to get to the sea.
In addition to this point, these lifeless chelonians have already been seen at various points on the eastern coast of Cozumel, apparently trapped by the sargassum that accumulates on the beaches.
Environmental authorities had declared that the presence of this algae did not imply any harm to the turtles since the adult specimens can pass over these banks to reach the sand to spawn, but the evidence indicates that it is not the same case with the hatchlings, or at least with a big percentage of them.
Baby turtles are not able to hatch from the egg and move over the large amounts of seaweed that accumulate on the beaches of Quintana Roo, their bodies are designed to move through the sand and head towards the sea.
When they suddenly hatch and find themselves in the middle of a pile of sargassum, the small specimens cannot move to the seashore and die trying.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom