The leader of the turtle camp of the Center for Technological Studies of the Sea (Cetmar) 17 of the port of Progreso, Carlos Andrés León, announced that every year sea turtles face more complicated situations in creating their nests, mainly because there are fewer and fewer spaces for them to live. beach, forcing them to look for new areas to nest.
“The number of nesting areas is also decreasing due to changes in ocean currents and because a lot of the beach has been ‘washed out’ due to the effects of erosion,” said the specialist.
“We have observed that sometimes the turtles come out and can’t find a place to nest, so they make an effort to dig, but they only dig 10 centimeters deep, since the rest is already compact sand, or it is an area that has been filled in with gravel, which makes it impossible for them to lay their eggs.”
“In those cases, there is not much to do, just let them return to the sea so they can find other nesting areas on their own because that is in their instinct.”
He said that to lay their eggs, turtles need between 40 and 60 centimeters of depth.
Likewise, he shared that many of them manage to reach the dunes, where they find deep sand, but when it is very dry it crumbles, which means that no matter how much they dig, they get tired and do not reach the necessary depth.
He indicated that in Progreso there are identified points where it is practically certain that turtles arrive to lay their eggs every year.
Some of these spawning areas include the traditional boardwalk, and the international boardwalk beaches, among others.
Regarding the traditional boardwalk, he stressed that this year two turtles appeared, whose eggs were moved to the turtle care center.
Likewise, other identified nesting areas are the tourist areas of Chelem, Chuburná, and Chicxulub Puerto. He stressed that there are turtles that emerge in the same place every year, which helps identify their nests. However, in some cases, the beach is already eroded, so they will likely have to look for other nesting spaces.
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