The biblical David had only one Goliath to defeat but the modern-day turtle Davids, some of my heroes, have many to confront and overcome. We’ve all read or heard pleas to save the turtles, or the whales, or the rainforest, or any of dozens of other endangered places or species, but how often do we get to meet the Davids fighting the various Goliaths determined to have their way with Nature? I’ll introduce you to some here and tell you how you can contact them and meet them, and maybe even join them. Slingshots and loincloths will not be required.

Why the turtles? I don’t have a rational answer that will explain my fascination with and affection for these reptiles. I never really thought too much about them one way or the other until recently. About five years ago a friend and I were taking a late night-early morning stroll along the beach between Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias when we happened upon the local turtle research facility. As we entered the stretch of beach on which they had constructed their simple station we saw that several people were engaged in releasing hatchlings to the ebbing sea. Several plastic milk cartons had been carried to just above the receding waterline and each contained a group of tiny turtles.

This is the current Campamento Tortuguero de Barra de Navidad on Coco Beach near Melaque

Coconut Beach which must be patrolled nightly during sea turtle nesting season.

Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea)

Loggerhead (Caretta caretta)

Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea)

Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)

Black (Chelonia agassizii)

Mexican actress Lara Gallardo and Melaque Mayor Alejandro Larazano

After watching for a few moments we asked permission to help with the release and after receiving smiles and affirmative replies, we each took a carton and gently tilted it to allow the turtles to escape. Even though we had just freed them and would never see them again, they immediately became our turtles. We watched them scurry about the sand, some heading directly for the water, others, confused and temporarily lost, heading out in all directions. We watched, apprehensive but avoiding intervention, as they gained their bearings and turned to head into the dark water and continue on the glorious, but in the case of many, too short, journey through life. Depending upon which source you consult, only about one in a thousand or one in twenty-five hundred of those hatchlings would survive to reach sexual maturity. Reaching sexual maturity means surviving an almost overwhelming set of obstacles.

A major challenge, one reduced by the night-time release, was avoiding being eaten by gulls and other seabirds. The next, one of many challenges that can’t be manipulated or avoided, is the sharks waiting offshore to devour the hatchlings "en masse". But even before hatching, there are many challenges to be faced and overcome in the struggle to perpetuate the species.

To paraphrase Pogo “They has met the enemy, and he is us”, so let’s look at Goliath number one.

“I know who steals the eggs, and I know who buys them.” Alejandro smiled when I asked why they weren’t stopped then.

“One morning when I left my house there was a headless turtle in my front yard. And one night in one of the local cantinas a big hombre with a huge bushy mustacio said to me “Why do you waste time protecting the turtles? People need money.” Now Alejandro is not a man who is easily intimidated. He currently serves as mayor of the beachfront town of Melaque and he’s not only faced, but overcome the threat of death. He’s a cancer survivor, and that has a bit to do with his concern for not only the sea turtles, but all life. That was one of the first things we discussed during our initial meeting months ago, and looking into his eyes as we spoke I knew his concern was real. For those of you who have ever lived in a small town you can easily understand why Alejandro, or anyone else who can’t retire at night to a heavily armed fortress might be hesitant to openly try to oppose those who operate outside the law and under the cover and protection of darkness.

But, what can he actually do to stop turtle egg poaching? Not much by himself. Poachers raid nests to gather eggs to sell for a current market price of five pesos each. Some nests hold up to one hundred eggs. Do the math for yourself; hit four or five nests a night, and even if they contain only half this many eggs, an unskilled young man can make quite a payday for relatively easy work. Can you really fault a desperate man who wants to provide for his family? Perhaps! The ones I personally fault are those who buy the eggs.

The initial purchaser is usually a restaurant owner in one of the beach areas, but the supply line reaches all the way to Guadalajara and probably other towns and cities in the area. Why would anyone want to eat turtle eggs? For the imagined or reputed value as a natural aphrodisiac. Let’s destroy a few species so we can have a really good roll in the hay. Somehow this one doesn’t seem like a valid reason. And they’re also supposed to be superior to chicken eggs when used in baking. Please don’t tell Duncan Hines.

What about other threats from humans? There are many.

Another threat to the survival of sea turtles, Goliath number two but rapidly moving into first position, is the spread of fibropapilloma tumors. These are lobe-shaped tumors that grow on all soft parts of the turtle’s body, including internal organs. They often increase in number and size until the turtle dies.

These tumors were first reported back in the 1930s but in the early 80s the reports increased to epidemic proportions. While initially restricted to the green turtles the disease is now spreading to other sea turtle species and may soon surpass man as the number one threat to the survival of all species of sea turtles.

Predators in the wild, Goliath number three, are also responsible for many turtle deaths and the destruction of many nests each year. Many land mammals such as the mongoose, rats, and coyotes or wolves are aware of the nesting cycles and exploit that knowledge to their benefit. Surprisingly, crabs are also a significant threat and as I mentioned earlier, sea birds and sharks are effective harvesters.

In all these cases the threat to survival is amplified by the fact that nesting turtles are victims of instinct, or habit, or a homing impulse that brings them each year to the same nesting grounds. Hunting these creatures, or discovering their nests is a fairly simple chore for all, man or beast or bird. One indication that traditional nesting grounds of some species are being destroyed is that of the eight species of sea turtles, only six have been sighted by local fishermen in the Jalisco-Colima-Nayarit area which is a relatively unusual happening. The following is a list of those species found in our coastal waters.

The largest of the sea turtles is the Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea). Specimens eight feet long and weighing two thousand pounds have been reported. The name comes from the fact that the carapace, or upper shell of this specie is leathery and flexible rather than rigid as in other turtles.

One of the larger of the sea turtles, the Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) can grow to a length of 30 to 40 inches and a weight of from 250 to 400 pounds. They nest every other year and usually lay three or four clutches of as many as 100 eggs per incidence. The incubation period is about two months.

The Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) can reach a length of 39 to 48 inches and a weight of up to 300 pounds. She lays several clutches each year, usually with each containing slightly over 100 eggs. The incubation period is between two and three months.

A wide-ranging turtle, the Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), grows to about 28 inches long and about 99 pounds in weight. These females nest in “arribadas” or mass arrivals, where thousands meet and lay masses of eggs within two or three days of frenzied activity. Each mother lays about 100 eggs in from two to four nests per year, but they don’t lay every year.

A small to medium sea turtle, the Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) grows to about 30 to 36 inches long and as much as two hundred seventy pounds in weight. These turtles lay only every two or three years and deposit a number of eggs ranging from just a few to as many as 230 or so, with the average being roughly 130 per nest. They are capable of laying as many as six clutches per season and the incubation period ranges from 50 to 70 days.

Our final area turtle is the Black (Chelonia agassizii). Some scientists argue that there are only seven distinct species of sea turtles and that the Black is a sub-species of the Green. Most accept this turtle as a species unto itself. Blacks can grow to as long as 48 inches and attain a weight as great as 278 pounds. The females nest anywhere from one to eight times per season, with the mean being three. They lay anywhere from 30 to 139 eggs per clutch to begin an incubation period of from 46 t0 62 days.

Each of these turtles is now classified as endangered. This means of course that they need the Davids who are presently fighting the daily battle as well as many others who can step in to help. Why should you care, why should you join the fight? I asked Alejandro Lazareno, Mayor of San Patricio, Melaque why he cared, why he worked so hard against such great odds, and even personal danger? Again, his answer was “To appreciate life. All life.” I can’t think of a better reason. Once any part of our world is diminished, we’re all diminished, often in ways we don’t discover until it’s too late.

To hold back any more diminution of the life of his coastal area, Alejandro has joined with the mayors of Barra de Navidad and Villa Obregon, as well as the volunteer who operates a small turtle research station in La Manzanilla to encourage the members of the communities to join in their conservation efforts. They also actively recruit volunteers from all areas and segments of society to join in their work.

One of the volunteers is the Mexican stage and movie actress Lara Gallardo who operates "La Sirena", a B&B near the beach in Melaque. In addition to helping with the physical recovery of eggs Lara has designed donation containers for use in collecting funds to buy the supplies and materials needed by other volunteers and performs a number of other publicity chores. Lara and Alejandro welcome others to join them in their efforts to save the sea turtles of our Mexican beaches and to that end Alejandro has prepared a proposal to attract governmental and university support.

In the early 80s, the University of Guadalajara developed a turtle study and protection program and currently supports a number of volunteer groups along the coast. In addition they provide training in gathering and caring for the eggs, protecting the habitat, and compiling and logging field information for use in scientific studies. Unfortunately they are unable to provide financial assistance or a lot of manpower resources to many deserving local groups. That’s where you can join Alejandro and Lara in their important work.

Many times writers will tell you about sea turtle rescue projects and then fail to provide easy access to those who need your help. I’m going to make it very easy for you to become a participant in the building of the proposed "Campamento Tortuguero de Barra de Navidad" or to become a sand digging volunteer. Unlike some programs, you can actually do hands on field work if you choose.

The local organizers have asked UDG to provide them with training to teach them what technical standards and operational requirements are to be followed in their conservation efforts. They then offer training to local volunteers. Training sessions for this year run from July to December, the months during which the disparate species will be nesting on the local beaches. Locating nests, protecting them from man and other predators, and salvaging and hatching out these many clutches requires a great many man-hours of work. Trained volunteers and money are both always in short supply so if you have an interest in helping you can contact me at the e-mail address shown on the author’s page, or at dondelmundo@yahoo.com; Alejandro at tortugazul2001@hotmail.com or Lara at sirena_mex@hotmail.com .

Together, a group of determined Davids can defeat any bunch of Goliaths.

Author’s note: Some of the information in this article was gathered from the following sources: www.sdearthtimes.com or http://www.seaturtle.org or www.turtletime.org as well as personal interviews and original printed information provided by Mayor Lazareno and personal experience and observation of the author. Sources often contain conflicting information and I have chosen to use the information presented in this article based on my personal preferences. I am fully and solely responsible for any mistakes or errors.