Welcome to the WorldPosted on Thu, Aug 13, 2009
We are delighted to announce the birth of the first sea turtles of the season earlier today at The Royal Sands. All 117 are doing fine and will be released after dark tonight when there are fewer bird predators such as sea gulls and frigate birds around. If you have ever gently held a baby turtle or watched as they scuttle across the sand towards the waves, you’ll have been amazed at the strength of these tiny creatures and the powerful urge that drives them.
We visited these little dudes this afternoon and found them taking a well-earned nap, a real Mexican siesta! As you can see from the photos, they do not look very energetic. After all, it is hard work chipping away at the egg shell and it takes them over an hour, sometimes even longer to struggle free. However, they soon begin to revive as the sun goes down and the sea breeze picks up.
Once they enter the sea, male turtles spend the rest of their lives in the water but the females return to the beaches where they were born to dig their nests. We hope and pray that in 12 to 15 years time many of these green turtles will lay their own eggs on the Mexican Caribbean coast.
So we welcome our newborns with a hearty bienvenidas tortuguitas and we wish them Godspeed as they begin their lives at sea.
August 24th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
For many years one of the nests has been directly below our villa at the Royal Caribbean. So many times we have helped the turtles as they hatched. The security team, as usual, have been so fantastic with the turtles.
It is priceless when we get to help release the turtles at night. I fondly remember last year my grandson and other young family members running down the beach at night when security let us know they were releasing the turtles.
Just another magic moment at my home away from home.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:29 am
We have released turtles at the Royal Resorts many times. My 5 year old daughter asked if there will be any turtles to release when we visit the Sands next week (8/22/09).
With 52 nests and over 6300 eggs this season, I think I can tell her YES!
What a great tradition and wonderful memory for my children (and me)! We thank the Royal Resorts for their efforts in saving the turtles and giving us the opportunity to participate in releasing them.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:28 am
we’re hoping for a GREAT season. it’s very enjoyable to be able to join in releasing these little ones into the sea. AND to be able to see turtles while snorkling out in Bahía Mujeres is frutage of the care given these little ones.