Turtle Times...............................
Beautiful day last Sunday 1 May 2016. Took off early, headed South to the "Y". Did a recon of facilities to include fuel and last minute essentials. The old Pemex was open but "no hay gasolina". Took the short run East to the New Pemex. They have everything to include diesel and a wine rack. Turned back West to Desemboque, pulled off the highway right to Santo Tomas and headed to La Playa. Contrary to what the Real Estate banditos say, the road is NOT fit for a car unless you have bullet proof tires and snow skis for the sand, not to mention the chuck holes on the highway that could easily swallow a burro. BS'd the guard at the Santo Tomas gate, he let us in and we went to Scottie's place to check out his fishing operation. Man alive does he have that scene tuned in. I can only HIGHLY recommend dealing with him if particularly if you are boatless and wanna kill BIG fish close to shore. Jerry was not available due to some obscure rescue operation somewhere further South on the beach.
Hit the beach in my newly refurbed Wrangler TJ, made a right turn and began our planned photodoc to be titled "Death on the Beach". So folks here is the preview:
New World Heritage Destination: "El Cementerio de los Caguamas de Sonora" (The Sea Turtle Graveyard of Sonora).
We drove six (6) miles North that afternoon from Santo Tomas to the light house and panga camp at the light house El Jaguey. We located and photographed thirty three (33) Olive Ridley Sea Turtles in the surf and on the beach in that six miles of beach. That folks, is 5.5 dead turtles per mile of beach. Multiply that by the miles back North to PP means more than five hundred (500) dead Ridley's along that short span of Sonora coastline. Now if you recall may last post of our March trip along Bahia San Jorge where we spotted a dead turtle every few hundred feet, I can only say that these are dark days for the Sonora population of Ridley's.
We did not document the dead Humpback Whale, California Sea Lions and Dolphins of two species. We did photograph an Electric Ray (my first ever) and many Bat Rays dead on La Playa.
The most disturbing thing we did encounter was an adult, five foot plus (5'+) PACIFIC LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE, the second I have ever seen in my life. You might like to do the research and find out that there are less than 2500 of them left on earth. This animal has lived unchanged since T-Rex roamed the beaches and probably feasted on them just like the Zopilotes and Coyotes are today. To me, this is an unspeakable shame, all for the unquenchable quest for camarones.
Most of the dead still had monofilament gill net wrapped around their heads and flippers. These animals are taking a beating that they can not ever recover from. On a good day fishing we might spot one turtle off shore, but thousands dead on the beaches?
I must not omit though, it's surely a windfall for the Coyotes, Turkey Vultures, Ravens, Gulls and maggots. We saw migrating swallows hawking low at four or five inches altitude feasting on the death flies. Almost every carcass had it's contengency of Fringe Toed San Lizards, a big macho male and his har-rum of girlies feasting and guarding the stinking piles.
Oh well,
Tomorrow will be another day.
JJ
