I live in one of the most bio-diverse countries, Mexico. Is a place of a stunning beauty wherever you go. We have our problems though. In terms of ecology, we are a bit behind in terms of conservation. Some months ago I found this British NGO called Projects Abroad which happens to have a Turtle conservation project in the coast of Colima in Mexico. It all was very interesting from the very beginning, I asked them if I could visit their turtle camp and take some photographs there and they agreed.
I was told I should go on the 23rd of October, cause they were going to release thousands of hatchlings, and so I did. As soon as arrived I met Oliver who’s the manager of the camp, he showed me the facilities. After an hour I was so impressed and excited when he told me at sunset they would release 1,500 turtles. He took me to the place where they had the hatchlings waiting to be released. What a spectacle, hundreds of miniature turtles all of them very energetic waiting to take their first dive into the ocean.
The moment arrived and Projects Abroad Volunteers gather all the turtles together in big buckets and walked to the beach, where they released them all. What a spectacle that was, they all seem to know where the water is, in frantic 20 minutes they were all gone. 1500 little Olive Ridleys racing to the ocean.
Oliver told me that during that October week his volunteers released more than 10,000 turtles into the Pacific.
The day after we went for a ride on the quad bikes, he wanted to show me what the poachers do when they find a turtle, he took me to a turtle’s slaughter place and to be honest it was just disturbing. Economical factors in Mexico make turtle eggs an alternative for some locals who collect the eggs and the skin of the turtles to sell them in the black market.
The volunteers in this camp patrol the beach every night competing against poachers to collect the eggs and make turtles visits ashore safer. Encounters with poachers can be dangerous sometimes Oliver Mentioned. I was totally skeptical of what i was seeing, im actually thinking in joing these guys. I must admit it was one of the best experiences i've had.
Check projects abroad’s cool website. And there's plenty of cool videos in their you tube channel: www.youtube.com/projectsabroad
