Cancun, Q.R. — With more than 10,000 sea turtle nests this season, the director of Municipal Ecology for Cancun says it was a record year.
María Guadalupe Alcantara Mas, the General Director of Ecology for Benito Juárez reported that 10,200 sea turtle nests were recorded this year that allowed officials to release approximately 700,000 offspring, making it the highest count since the municipality began protecting the species.
Alcantara Mas noted that some turtles are still laying eggs, but for this season, a majority of the eggs have hatched and the young released. She added that sea turtle season typically runs May to October, however, some seasons have run into January.
“We have had a very high season count, maybe the highest in Quintana Roo. We are very proud because it is the result of the work in all the camps. We have already recovered the population of the species,“ she said.
City Council of Benito Juárez oversees 49 pens in collaboration with 35 hotels and a volunteer program of university students. The region typically sees four species of sea turtles which are the green turtle, loggerhead, hawksbill and leatherback, the largest of all living turtles.
