Cancun, Q.R. — Cancun has started preparing sea turtle protection corrals in the hotel zone. Crews have begun trenching areas that will be used to protect eggs found buried along the beach.
Cancun Mayor Ana Paty Peralts said the corrals are part of the preservation of Cancun’s marine fauna.
The first protection corral was installed at Playa Delfines on Thursday. Peralta says it is a space intended to safeguard hundreds of nests and thousands of eggs during the nesting season.
Mayor Peralta explained that this action is part of the Marine Turtle Protection and Conservation Program led by the Ecology Department. The department remains active throughout the year with patrols, monitoring, nest transplantation, environmental education, stranding response, and training.
She says those actions are in coordination with hotels, condominiums and the local community.
She explained that the newly created corral is designed according to the of NOM-162-SEMARNAT-2012 specifications for turtle nests. The Playa Delfines corral will have the capacity to shelter up to 1,500 nests, guaranteeing the protection of the eggs until they hatch.
She also emphasized that the facilities not only protect the hatchlings, but also prevent predation and damage resulting from human activity.
Fernando Haro Salinas who heads the city’s Ecology Department, reported that already this season, five nests with 674 eggs have been protected in three corrals.
He added that the eggs were located during the more than 520 surveillance and monitoring tours that have already been done this year.
