Puerto Vallarta continues to demonstrate its commitment to caring for the environment and its natural species by strengthening the efforts of the Municipal Program for the Protection of the Sea Turtle. This year, the program has made it possible to protect more than a 1,900 nests and release 80 thousand hatchlings.
Deputy Director of Environment and Ecology, Albino Garay de la O, noted that the collection has exceeded what has been achieved in previous years and the number will continue to increase through the month from December. He indicated that turtles arrive to spawn at the beaches of Puerto Vallarta after June, with the rainy season being te peek period, so that the actions for their care are maintained throughout the year, along with environmental awareness and education talks in schools, from pre-school to university level, as well as people who meet on the beaches to participate in the releases.
“Fortunately, the citizenry is becoming increasingly aware of the protection of turtles, the importance they have and, well, most people already know that collecting eggs or consuming them is a federal crime.” The Director of Ecology in the municipality said that the nests collected in the different beaches of the port are taken to the three pens, and later they are released.
When a turtle is seen spawning or the presence of a nest is detected, the authorities should be notified, keep a minimum distance of 10 meters to avoid driving the turtle away, do not try to touch it and if it is at night, you should not use flash if you want to take a picture.
To participate in the releases, those interested can call 2249121 to schedule their place, since the groups must be no larger than 30 people, for better control, and thus guarantee the security of the released turtles.
