Life is good in El Pescadero and Todos Santos, but it can be better. It’s time to get out there in the community and help promote learning about the wondrous sea turtles that swim and nest here.
In Southern Baja California (Baja California Sur) we have many sea creatures that need protection. My goal is to provide the local educators with materials for their classrooms regarding the olive ridley and leatherback sea turtles (tortugas marinas) who come to our local beaches to nest.
I have seen the females laying their eggs and the hatchlings heading to the ocean. What a joy it is to witness! But human activity is responsible for the decline in population. For years people have been driving on the beaches here, which negatively impacts nests and the hatchlings. Light pollution causes problems for the females laying eggs and for the hatchlings that are drawn to the light instead of the ocean. Many governments have protections for sea turtles, but still, eggs are taken and nesting females are slaughtered for their meat and skin. Fishing nets also take a large toll, frequently snagging and drowning these turtles.
Teaching the students will inspire them to protect sea turtles (and other ocean animals) and encourage others in the community to do likewise.
I am putting together educational kits with materials for the students, some of which are consumables like informational coloring books. Other items in the kits will include books, videos, hands-on items, posters, etc. Most of these are either in Spanish, or in Spanish and English. I designed and purchased 100 stickers and 20 adult t-shirts for the teachers, and purchased many of the books already.
This bag holds 100, about the size of a normal clutch.
If you follow my blog you know how much I love the environment where I live. I have learned so much about the sea turtles and I want to help others to fall in love with them as I have.
Female turtles go back to the beach where they were born to nest. They lay between 80 and 110 eggs in a clutch. Only one in a thousand will make it to maturity. The olive ridley won’t be mature for mating until she is 15 years old. Other species will have to make it to 35 years. Birds, dogs, people, and crabs are some of the predators that eat the eggs, turtles, and hatchlings. If a hatchling makes it to the ocean, other predators and unhappy circumstances await them. It’s a wonder any of them live to breed.
The GoFundMe site helped me to raise money for my project, and my neighbors, Bill and Cathleen Small, have contributed many valuable items like a book binder and the initial purchase of many books, stickers, 20 T-shirts, and supplies. My husband doesn’t mind that I have spent our own money for this cause too, but I have now decided to do some local fundraising selling t-shirts, stickers, and reusable grocery bags. Thanks to the generous donations from my GoFundMe donors, I was able to purchase 100 adult t-shirts in various sizes and colors, and 200 more stickers, plus 200 reusable grocery bags to promote saving the environment from plastic. There is so much plastic in our oceans. Sea turtles eat jelly fish and the plastic bags in the water look like their favorite food. No Plastic! ¡Sin plástico!
Now I have to get busy and get out there with everything. The shirts and stickers will be ready for pick-up September 6th, but the grocery bags will take another week. The good news is that I was able to purchase everything locally in La Paz at Compusign, the tiny orange shop on De León.
The money I make from the sale of the items will go for more of the consumable items like the informational coloring books (using paper and ink…lots of it), crayons, and colored pencils for the schools, and for more posters and books. It is such a gratifying experience to work with the educators and the children. So far I have two schools on board. One is in El Pescadero and the other is The Palapa Learning Center in Todos Santos. If all goes well, I can grow this project to include more schools.
My goal: Teach the children about the sea turtle and they will grow into adults interested in protecting these creatures and their environment.
Although I met my goal of $1,000 with GoFundMe (I get to keep $966 and the rest is for the site), donations are always welcome. There will be on-going expenses to keep the schools in consumable supplies, and of course I want to expand to more schools. Want to donate and join me? https://www.gofundme.com/f/viva-la-tortuga