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| Heading out to watch the turtles at Punta Sur |
Pick up Bob and Leanne at 6:00 in the evening. Check!
An hour before sundown we headed to south point to catch the nature show - turtles making sweet love in the surf.
We puttered
along in the golf cart to the park at the end of the island, and strolled
towards the Mayan ruins at the southern tip.
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| Dozens of pairs of turtles in the surf. |
From a higher vantage point we could see dozens of
turtles paired off in the pounding surf, blissfully unaware of being spied
upon. (Is this where the idea for waterbeds came from?)
Walking further down the staircase
and along the cliffside pathway to sea level the individual pairs were more
visible to us, but still a long way out in the surf.
The mating
season starts in early May with the arrival of mature turtles, ranging from
fifteen-years to eighty-years old, at the south end of Isla Mujeres. Turtle
love, chuka-chuka in Mayan,
appears to be a pretty cumbersome business – with the smaller male piggybacking
on the larger female.
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| Pounding waves not a problem for the turtles |
For several weeks
the female turtles alternate between mating in the water, and laying the eggs
on land. They can create as many as
eight nests per season, cumbersomely digging a deep hole in the sand using just
their hind flippers. Their nests hold on
average one hundred eggs, but can have as many as two hundred eggs. The mating-nesting cycle repeats every two or
four years depending on the species of turtle.
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| Three turtles at Punta Sur |
The employees from the Turtle Farm have already been patrolling
the sandy beaches late at night, retrieving 1000 eggs so far to be hatched in a
safe environment, away from predators both human, and animal.
Later in the summer the baby turtles will be
released at sundown to prevent the predatory birds from scooping up the tasty
treats.
The babies will start the cycle
all over again, returning to the same beach in about fifteen years to mate and
lay eggs.
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| Enjoying the evening show |
On the evening we were turtle watching a group of six
local guys were enjoying an afternoon break, enjoying the show.
They were sipping on cans of Coca Cola, while
we enjoyed glasses of wine or bottles of cold beer.
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| A well-equipped tour bus. |
When we left south point, the four of us drove to
Victor’s Casa Havana, on the east side of the island, situated on the seawall. Great food!
The only downside was we left Leanne’s cooler and wine glasses in the
back of the golf cart.
Yep, someone else
is now the proud owner of her pretty blue goblets.
Ah well, it was a fun evening all the same.
Interesting You-Tube video: turtles mating at the
Punta Sur on Isla Mujeres, May 2012 – by Matt Swinden
Hasta Luego
Lynda and Lawrie
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