Just another day in paradise; a giant sea turtle nesting in our yard!

Just another day in paradise.    

Sparky and Max, our two island rescue-mutts, and I wander down the sidewalk in the semi-darkness. 

It’s the early morning pee-walk-for-pets, the one that happens before I get to enjoy my first cup of coffee. 

I prefer to stumble along the seashore in the morning with the dogs off their leashes, but at this time of year, the beach is a minefield of mama sea turtles digging nesting holes. Some of the holes are four feet deep, and sometimes the mama turtles are still in the holes.

Sparky and I are restless sleepers. 

Max and Sparky, checking out the turtle smells

He noses me awake well before dawn. Lawrie and Max, on the other hand, could sleep through a category five hurricane and an 8.9 earthquake. 

It takes both of us, Sparky and me, to wake up Max and convince him he has to go for a pee. 

He’s not a happy camper.

Lawrie's photo early in the morning

The next fifteen to twenty minutes are a comedy routine of Sparky pulling me, and me dragging Max.

“Come on, Max. Walk a little faster, please.” I exhort, followed by “Sparky, slow down. Wait for Max.”

Sparky flips me one of those looks, “Really. Slow down? He’s nearly motionless.”

“Well, Max is just not a morning guy like you, Sparky,” I tell him.  We continue our pull-drag pace a block south and turn to make our way back. Finally, Max is awake enough to pee.

Mama turtle - digging, digging, digging.

As we near our house, I can see Lawrie standing in the street, waving frantically at me. 

“Hurry up!” He shouts quietly, trying not to wake up our neighbours.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” I am about to pick up Max’s hefty twenty-eight-pound body and run home.

“No, no problem. Unless you think a turtle digging in our yard is a problem.” He says with a happy grin.

Sparky watching from our upper deck.

“Come on, boys, let’s go!” And surprisingly, Max breaks into a run. Maybe he thinks I said Let’s eat. The dog likes his food.

We barrel inside the house, scrambling to remove dog leashes and harnesses, but keeping the dogs locked inside. 

We discovered a few weeks ago that mama turtles don’t like being sniffed by inquisitive canines. 

The boys will have to watch with us from the upper ocean-side deck.

My photo has been shared and reshared on web.

And there she is, digging up the back yard. 

During the night, she had wandered from side to side, front to back, testing the ground before she finally located the deep sand at the bottom of the yard.

Lawrie had, uncharacteristically, woken up when I left with the two dogs and wandered out onto the upper patio to check our neighbours’ beach. 

A few seconds later - same turtle.

There are usually one or more fresh holes every morning. 

Instead, he spotted the mama tossing sand in our yard. He grabbed the camera and snapped a few photos without a flash, but it was still too dark to really see her. 

By the time the dogs and I had returned home, the light was perfect for photos. We watched while she dug yet another hole, then moved along and dug another and another.

Lawrie chatting with the turtle, Ken Jost photo

Familiar guests, Norma and Ken Jost, were staying next door at a rental property. They are also early risers and noticed the commotion in our yard. Ken took some amazing photos as well as videos. 

Eventually, the mama turtle lumbered down the path toward Casa Luna and then turned right and lumbered toward the water.

And away she goes around 7:30 a.m.

We don’t know if she laid eggs, but we are watching and counting down the sixty days of incubation. 

Fingers-crossed, everything goes well if there are eggs.

So, yeah, just another boring day in paradise. What did you do this morning?

Cheers

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Max

Lawrie tidying up the beach.

~
Isla Mujeres Mystery series

                               
                            

Some things never change: life in Isla Mujeres Mexico!

Longer days - beautiful weather

Huh!  I’ll be darned!

Scrolling through 20,472 photographs of Isla Mujeres we have taken in the last few years, I realized there definitely is a repeat pattern to life here on the island. 

June is prime time for the boisterous political parades. The campaign for Governor of the State of Quintana Roo was in June 2009. The campaign for Presidente of Isla Mujeres occurred in June 2010, and it is happening again in June 2013. State and federal elections are held every six years, while local elections are held every three years.  The mandate for our local Presidente, Hugo Sanchez, was a bit shorter as the election officials wanted to synchronize the dates statewide.

2009 State elections

The political parades are entertaining, so we don’t mind the noise of the various campaign slogans and accompanying music. The PRI party seems to like rap music similar to Pit Bull, and the PAN soundtrack sounds like One Night in Bangkok, or maybe it’s Putting on the Ritz – one of those.  I find myself humming along as the boom-box golf carts pass by our house, again and again and again.

June is also the time for torrential rainstorms interspersed with silky smooth seas and brilliantly sunny days.  In June 2011, Tropical Storm Arlene paid us a visit, flooding many parts of the island.  

This year, a storm sat over Isla for about a week before grudgingly moving on to Florida, where it became Tropical Storm Andrea - the first named storm of 2013. TS Andrea set rainfall records in various parts of the USA, and probably here on Isla. I have seen reports of up to 2 feet of rain for the week. That’s a lot of water!  

2011 TS Arlene flooded streets in Centro

So much water that two separate sightings of crocodiles swimming on roadways were reported; one in the hotel zone in Cancun, and one in the area by the Hacienda Mundaca Park on Isla.  

Strange areas, such as Captain Tony’s front yard at the higher southern end of the island, were turned into lakes. He and his dog went kayaking - on the front lawn.  

We were wet and cranky, experiencing a bit of cabin fever as we huddled in our house, staring out the rain-drenched windows as sheets of rain obliterated our ocean view. 

 

Lawrie, clearing the street drain near our house

And predictably, every year the heavy rains cause migraine-sized headaches for store and restaurant owners in Centro. Even though we are an island made primarily of sand and coral, the water doesn’t dissipate rapidly enough. The various pumps just can’t handle the flow.  This time, there was also a problem in the electrical panel for the pumps, causing a further delay in reducing the water buildup. Many drainage trenches were clogged with sand and trash.  

In the summer months, we frequently check the two large drains a few hundred feet south of our house. We have, on occasion, been out there in the pouring rain, rakes in hand, clearing the debris, reducing the accumulating water to a few inches instead of a few feet. I wonder do we qualify as city workers? Maybe we will get an invitation to the annual Christmas party?

Swimming with whale sharks, June 2009

On the upside, June is one of our favourite months because the ocean is teeming with sea life. It is turtle mating season, and the beginning of their nesting season. June is also, in my opinion, the best month for enjoying a swim with the whale sharks, those graceful forty-foot long submarines that are in truth neither whale nor shark, but the world’s largest fish. Fewer tourists equal a better experience when swimming with these gorgeous creatures. In June, most Canadians, Americans, and Europeans are enjoying fine weather in their own hometowns. Later in the summer, when crowded cities heat up, we will see another uptick in tourism, particularly from European countries.

Turtle tracks on our beach

June is also the beginning of the migration season for various species of rays, including the Golden Rays and Manta Rays. We were fortunate a few years ago to watch as a large group of rays passed our house on the east side of the island. The females leap high into the air, contracting muscles, and expelling a cylinder-shaped live baby ray. The babies’ wings unfurled as they entered the water, and away they sped following the family group.  Pretty darn cool to see!

It’s comforting to know that some things never change. Next year, we’ll be doing most of the same things again: viewing the turtles’ mating season, swimming with whale sharks, watching for the migration of rays, and enjoying life with our friends and family. 

Ah, beautiful, peaceful June.

Hasta Luego          
Lynda and Lawrie

Murder. Mayhem. Revenge. Romance.

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky

How do you make a grown-up grin like a little kid?

Linda G. and her baby turtle

How do you make a grown-up grin like a little kid? Hand her a squirming baby turtle.  

The result is a wide, face-splitting grin.

Arriving on Media Luna beach, near the north end of the island, we fully expected the turtle release start time would be approximate, más o menos, meaning more or less, accompanied by the appropriate mocking hand wiggle-waggle.

Surprisingly, the event started on time! 







Large green tubs of wriggling baby turtles were transported on a flat-deck truck from the turtle farm, getting as close to the beach as possible.

Then, individual turtle farm workers lifted the heavy buckets overhead, toting the turtles down to the beach.

Covetous hands of all sizes stretched out, pushing plastic buckets and containers towards the workers as they carefully scooped handfuls of turtles to distribute to the crowd. 

Joann with baby turtle

My sister Joann, Lawrie’s sister Linda, and island friends Andy and Yumiko were as excited as anyone; holding the babies up for photos, releasing them onto the sand for the dash to the water, and groaning when the surf unceremoniously tossed ‘their turtle’ back on the beach.

How anyone could tell which turtle was their turtle – I have no idea.

They are all small, all moving, and all about the colour of dried seaweed. At this point in their lives, these turtles are about one inch tall, and the waves were about twelve inches high - similar to a human swimming in twelve-foot waves.    

Birds arriving to feast on babies

As the flocks of predatory birds swooped over the waves, plucking up the unlucky ones, I couldn’t help but think that maybe a slightly later start time would have been better. 

Timing is everything. 




Photographers in surf

It becomes a fine balance between creating the right lighting for good photographs to increase the interest in the turtle release program, and dark enough that the maximum number of babies will at least survive the initial launch.  

Without the assistance of the hatching program, a baby turtle has a one-in-a-thousand chance of surviving.

 



I am NOT touching that!

This year, (2012), in the first three months of turtle season, the workers have collected a record-breaking 65,000 eggs. The increase in collected eggs will hopefully increase the number of babies maturing to adults. The lucky ones that survive predators and spinning boat propellers and occasional un-sanctioned hunting will return to Isla in about fifteen years to mate and start the cycle all over again.  

Andy, Yumiko, first turtle release

We have been involved with the fun of previous releases, but this one was far more entertaining. We were with a group of family members and friends who had not seen a turtle release. 

Their grins were delightful; their enjoyment infectious. Great memories.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the public participation in turtle releases has been suspended for the health of the babies. 

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

Murder and mayhem on your favourite island in the Caribbean

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Turtles and Thunderstorms: Isla Mujeres, Mexico!



A perfect summer's day on Isla Mujeres

August: turtles and thunderstorms just seem to go together. The turquoise seas are calm, winds are zephyr-light, the cloudless skies are painted a cerulean blue, and the temperature hovers at a comfortable thirty degrees Celsius, or ninety-something on the Fahrenheit scale. 

The weather is perfect for the mama turtles to make their annual trek to the beaches, digging deep holes with their flippers and abandoning their buried eggs to their fate. And then, a storm bounces past the island!  

The beginning of Hurricane Ernesto.

Tropical storms and hurricane season correspond almost exactly to the mating and egg-laying season for the giant sea turtles, starting in June and ending in late October. 

It is either a perfect symbiotic relationship or a colossal joke played on these lumbering beasts. 

In the absence of my owning a PhD in the science of sea turtles, I am surmising that the relationship has developed over the millennia to accommodate a supply of food for the turtles as they gather to participate in a little fun with members of the opposite sex. 

Otherwise, why do it?


At the south end of Isla Mujeres sea turtles mate.

A few days ago, an enterprising turtle laboriously flippered her way across the upper level of the beach in front of our casa and all along in front of the vacation rental complex of Punta Piedra, looking for the perfect place to lay her eggs. 

She eventually headed back to sea eight houses north of our casa, apparently unsuccessful in finding the perfect spot. 



A mama sea turtle's long march during the night.



The following night, two visitors staying next door set their alarm clock to wake them in the wee hours of the morning and were rewarded with the sight of a female turtle investigating the same beach for nesting possibilities. 

They waited quietly and patiently in the dark, hardly daring to move for fear of spooking the turtle. 

As it turned out, she wasn't satisfied with the depth of the sand and returned to the ocean to try again, someplace else.  These ladies are very finicky.

Watching the wind-swollen surf pound the island.

In the aftermath of a nearby hurricane, with the wind-swollen surf pounding our beaches, do the female turtles have regrets? 

"Darn!  I wish I'd laid my eggs yesterday."  

Hasta Luego
Lynda and Lawrie

 ~

Murder and mayhem in paradise!

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Launching of the baby turtles, Isla Mujeres, Mexico!

Some of the kids who came to release turtles

Mayhem is the word that comes to mind while watching a hundred or more little kids rushing to release over 6000 baby sea turtles into the surf.  

Wednesday evening was the last scheduled release of the day-old hatchlings, this one held at the beach across from the Guadalupana neighbourhood. It was a very sociable event with a number of our local and gringo friends participating.

Arrival of baby turtles at release area

About a quarter past six in the evening, the baby turtles arrived from the tortugranja (turtle farm) via large plastic tubs transported on the back of a flatbed truck. The heavy tubs were then carried to the beach and lined up along the sand just out of the covetous reach of the little kids, and bigger kids like me. In an attempt to minimize the number of predators prowling for a feast of turtle sushi, we had to wait until sundown before the turtles were distributed for release.

Hard to see in the semi-dark!

And then it happened. The official in charge deemed it time to start the release. Every kid with a bucket was given a double handful of squirming baby turtles to release onto the sand, hopefully pointed in the right direction - towards the water. 

They are so very small, and about the colour of dried seaweed. It was extremely difficult in the deepening twilight not to step on the tiny shapes racing across the sand to the ocean. Once they reached the ocean, two-foot waves tossed a number of them unceremoniously back on the sand. 

Big wet kid, releasing turtles

I can't imagine how terrifying this whole procedure must be for a baby turtle.

 

The thought kept flickering through my brain while we watched the mayhem – at this point in their lives, these turtles are about one inch tall, and the waves are about twelve inches high. Isn’t that equivalent to a human swimming in twelve-foot waves? 

The Frigate birds, gulls, and other predator birds will feast on them come daylight. Others will be gulped down by underwater predators - like fish food sprinkled on the surface of an aquarium.  No wonder the survival rate for turtles is approximately 1 in 1000. 

After about fifteen years have passed, those that do survive will return to this area to mate in the waters off the south end of Isla Mujeres. 

Lots of interested folks watching the event

The females will return to the beaches where they started their journey and lay a hundred or more eggs in deep sand, before heading back to sea.  

The males will never return to land.  They are a fascinating species.

Hasta luego, Lynda & Lawrie

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