An early morning chat with a mama sea turtle

Turtles mating in front of our casa

“Are you awake?” Sparky asks jumping on the bed and jamming his wet nose into my face. My eyes pop open. It’s early, not yet sunrise. 

The sky is still a dark grey, slowly lightening to a paler hue as the sun creeps closer to the edge of our world.

Max our newest rescue pooch can’t yet jump up on to our bed, so he settles for putting his front paws on the edge of the mattress. Max has a bit of weakness in his hind end from an encounter with a vehicle. 

Rescue pooches - Sparky and Max on beach near our casa

In a previous life he slept in the street and this last January was accidentally run over. He was patched up by the great folks at Clinica Veterinaria de Isla Mujeres, and fostered by fellow Canadian Sylvie Staines for a few months while he recovered, then we agreed to adopt him. He is gaining strength daily but he is still uncoordinated and frequently stumbles, landing on his face in a tangled heap of legs and feet.

“Can we go out, please? Pleeeaaase?” I can hear toe nails clicking on the tile floor as Sparky jumps off the bed, and both dogs commence the pee-pee dance in our dark bedroom.

Another mama turtle heading back to the ocean near our casa

“Okay, okay, just give me a minute.” I say as I blunder around in the gloom looking for clothes, house keys, and my wrist watch. I think about taking my pocket-sized camera but change my mind. What are the odds of seeing a turtle this morning? I think, a big yawn stretching my face.

The dogs and I parade downstairs, leaving Lawrie to slumber in air-conditioned comfort. I switch on the coffeemaker as I pass by, and open the door for Sparky and Max. The boys scoot outside and quickly discover the fresh turtle tracks in our neighbours’ yard, at Ronda and Bruce Roberts casa.

Sparky and Max investigating turtle nests

Noses to the ground they follow the scent from the yard to the ocean and back, searching. A mix of terrier and several other breeds Sparky normally has an amazingly accurate sense of smell, but this morning his is off the mark. 

I looked a little to the south of where the boys are sniffing and there she is, the mama sea turtle, about to tip over the edge of a three-foot drop onto the beach. I quickly stand in front of the turtle preventing her from using that route. 

2015 -  the turtle that Amy and I turned right-way up

Two years ago another neighbour, Amy, and I had to right an upside down tortuga who had flipped off of a four-foot drop. 

It’s a two-person job to get them turned right-way up again, and at this time of the morning there is only me in my caffeine-deprived zombie state.

“Okay, mama, how about you pick a different route.” I say to her, wondering if I have seen this particular turtle before, wishing that I had put my camera in my pocket.  She’s a beauty, long and wide, and healthy looking. Perhaps a Kemp’s Ridley, or a Loggerhead, I’m just not sure.

Turtle eggs dug up by another nesting turtle

The females, and only the females, do return to the same beaches year after year digging deep holes and laying up to one hundred and twenty golf-ball-shaped eggs. 

But in all honesty, unless you really study the markings and scars of an individual I think one magnificent mama turtle looks like another magnificent mama turtle, especially in the half-light of 5:45 in the morning.

Different night, similar turtle heading back to sea

I could have imagined it, but I thought I heard her hiss at me, for getting in her way. 

Keeping my fingers well away from her strong jaws I briefly stroked her smooth carapace, then she decided to move away from this strange creature. 

Turtling, or the hunting of turtles, was banned in Mexico and the USA in 1990 just twenty-seven years ago. 
This mama turtle could be old enough to remember the times when it was legal to hunt her species for meat, oil, shells or anything useable. She probably doesn’t have a great affection for humans.

Hatchlings in front of our casa in 2015

She slowly turned and found a slightly less hazardous route to the beach, while I trailed along beside her, making sure that if the dogs did notice they wouldn’t harass her. 

It is fascinating to watch the cumbersome progress of a full-grown turtle flippering her way across the sand to get back to the ocean, and once she hits the water she is as graceful as a ballerina.

When she was safely out to sea the two pooches and I turned back to the house.  Organizing two big cups of coffee with a drizzle of caramel on top, I woke up Lawrie and related my morning encounter with the tortuga.

Photo - Isla Mujeres al Dia Facebook page

During mating and nesting season, May to October, there is a good chance of seeing a turtle on the beach. 

I just have to get back in the habit of taking my camera with me when Sparky and Max need their morning pee walk. 

If you have the chance to watch a wild turtle please do it quietly, and don’t shine flashlights or cellphones on her. When taking photos don’t use a flash. She might abandon her efforts and off-load her eggs in the ocean; a bonus for the fish but a loss for the turtle conservation efforts.

Hasta Luego 

Lynda & Lawrie

Treasure Isla

Have you got yours yet?

$2.99 USD on Amazon e-books

Treasure Isla is a humorous Caribbean adventure set on Isla Mujeres, a tiny island off the eastern coast of Mexico. Two twenty-something women find themselves in possession of a seemingly authentic treasure map, which leads them on a chaotic search for buried treasure while navigating the dangers of too much tequila, disreputable men, and a killer. And there is a dog, a lovable rescue-mutt.

A Night of Terror

Dawn - five minutes after six in the morning

Exhausted.  Her scraped and bleeding limbs drifting uselessly in the waves Teresa lay on her back unable to move.   Her mouth and nose covered by the shallow water she struggled to breathe.  She had lain in this painful position for hours. 

In the dark of the night Teresa had mistakenly stepped off a rocky ledge, landing hard on the beach below.  She knew she was in trouble, big trouble.  Dawn was breaking and soon the hot tropical sun would bake against her body slowly killing her if the lack of oxygen didn’t do her in first.  If she could just get one decent breath of air, perhaps she could survive a bit longer.  Just a little bit longer.

Turtle hole at top  right of photo - she flipped over here

A noise!  She heard a noise that sounded like two voices with a background of sharp and excited yips.   Trembling with fear Teresa again futilely twitched her limbs.

“Oh god, she alive!” shouted a voice.

“Awesome”, I exclaimed, “let’s flip her over!”

“How the heck to you flip a large turtle?” asked my neighbour Amy, with a bemused smile on her face.

“Carefully, very carefully!”  I laughed, set my camera down on the rocky outcropping, and ran to one side of the turtle. 

Shaking her head at the absurdity of the situation Amy released the leash of her young puppy Bosch and joined me.

“Okay,” she said, “on three.  One, two, three!”  And we flipped a large, heavy Loggerhead turtle right-side up.

Different tortuga - Gaspar helping her dig a deeper hole

With a flurry of splashing flippers Teresa the Tortuga struggled to turn around – paddling, pushing, soaking both Amy and I with a slurry of seawater and sand.   We were euphoric; laughing and shouting happily when the turtle managed to speed off into the deeper water, and away from her night of torment and terror.  I had mistakenly put my camera too far out of reach, and by the time I grabbed it and pointed at the fleeing tortuga she had gone.  Damn!  The three dogs, Amy’s two dogs Bowser and Bosch, and Sparky were very quiet.  They stared at the departing creature unable to comprehend how it would swim out that far, that fast. 

Teresa the Tortuga - swimming fast to freedom

Tortuga flipping is not my normal routine at five minutes before dawn.  Sparky and I usually do his first walk of the day at half-past six along the sidewalk to the gas station and back, fifteen or twenty minutes tops and then it’s time for morning coffee.  

This morning I woke up at half-past five and decided to head out early.  Because it is turtle nesting season I tucked a small camera into my pocket, hoping maybe, just maybe I would get lucky with photos of a mama turtle laying eggs. 

Tortuga dug this up - looking for the perfect spot

From mid-May to October the female turtles typically arrive after sunset and search for a deep stretch of sand, digging one, two or even three test holes before settling on a location and depositing over a hundred eggs.  





The turtles are normally gone well before dawn, however, occasionally a female will still be laying eggs at sunrise having spent too long searching for a perfect nesting site during the night. 

A bucket full of baby turtles about to be released

Before the creation of the turtle conservation program, and the Isla Mujeres turtle farm, the chances of a turtle egg hatching, and the new babies surviving were miniscule.  Dogs, birds, and humans all preyed on the eggs.  If the eggs did hatch then large fish and more sea birds would gobble up the delicious hatchlings as they dashed for the ocean.  Every year the Isla Mujeres turtle farm gathers the eggs, then raises and releases up to ninety thousand baby turtles.  It’s a wondrous sight.  

Wet and sandy Turtle Flipper

On this morning Sparky and I did our usual amble along to the gas station, and then I decided to walk back home along the beach.  About half-way home I noticed our neighbour Amy was out with their new puppy, Bosch, giving him a chance to have a morning pee.  Bosch was excitedly barking at something in the ocean so Sparky and I headed over to see what the excitement was all about.

As Amy and I stood discussing how sad it was to see a dead turtle, and wondering if she had been hit by a boat propeller the turtle twitched her flippers.  And that’s when the fun started.  By the time Teresa the Tortuga had successfully swum away our laughter had alerted Amy’s husband Luis that something was up.  He popped out onto their patio for a look, but the excitement was over. 

This is not the first time that one of our neighbours has righted an up-side-down tortuga.  

We can only hope that Teresa the Tortuga survives to return, again and again, to this beach.  

Sea Turtles mating

But, she will likely have an aversion to that particular stretch of sand where she back-flipped off a rocky ledge onto the sand below. 

While she was struggling to survive, her mate was probably drifting off-shore at south point wondering where she was, and why his breakfast was late. 

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

Some things never change

Longer days - beautiful weather

Huh!  I’ll be darned!

Scrolling through 20,472 photographs of Isla Mujeres that we have taken in the last few years, I realized that 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 campaigning for Presidente of Isla Mujeres occurred in June 2010, and it is happening right now in June 2013.  Typically the state and federal elections are every six years, while local elections are 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.  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 rain storms 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 overtop of Isla for about a week, before grudgingly moving on to Florida, where it became Tropical Storm Andrea - the first named storm of 2013.  Andrea set records for the amount of rainfall in various parts of the USA, and probably here on Isla.  I have seen reports of up to two 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 street drain near our house

And predictably every year the heavy rains cause migraine-sized headaches for store and restaurant owners in the busy centro area of Isla.  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 build up.  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 of June, it 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 home-towns.  Later in the summer, when crowded cities heat up, we will see another up-tick in tourism, particularly from European countries.

Turtle tracks in front of neighbour

June is also the beginning of the migration season for various species of ray 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 leapt 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, June - beautiful peaceful June.

Hasta Luego          
Lynda and Lawrie

Turtle Love: Chuka-Chuka!

Heading out to watch the turtles at Punta Sur

Wine? Check.  Beer? Check.  Cooler? Check.  Wine glasses? Leanne is bringing. Check.  

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.  

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.  

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.

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.

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.  

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3GaQngCaNQ

Hasta Luego          
Lynda and Lawrie