멕시코 아기 바다 거북이 방생 행사(해외 자원봉사활동 워크캠프)

 오늘은 제가 참가했던 멕시코 바다 거북이 보호 활동의 마지막이자 하이라이트인 아기 거북이 방생 행사를 소개해 드리겠습니다.

저는 2010년 국제 워크캠프를 통해서 멕시코 게레로주 마르껠리아 시티의 시레니토 마초 거북이 보호 캠프에 참여 했습니다. 오늘 말씀 드릴 주제는 거북이 보호 활동의 마지막 행사인 새끼 거북 방생 행사 사진을 모아 봤습니다. 거북이 보호 활동 전체 프로세스를 간단히 말씀 드리면

1. 해변에서 둥지를 찾거나 산란중인 거북이를 만나 알을 수거 해온다.

2. 그 알을 다시 캠프내에 있는 부화장에 인공 둥지를 만들어 보관한다.

3. 약 45일간의 시간을 기다린다.
4. 깨어난 아기거북들을 모아 방생을 해준다.

더 자세한 거북이 보호 프로세스를 보시려면 클릭해주세요.

이 행사는 관광객들이나 봉사자들 그리고 지역주민들도 많이 참여 하는 행사인데. 사진 속에서는 그냥 아기 거북들이 해변으로 기어가는 모습만 나오지만, 부화한후 일정 정도의 시간을 모래위에서 그리고 작은 수영장? 에서 적응 훈련을 한 후 방생 하게 됩니다.

53 Turtle Hatchlings -- 53 Crías de tortuga -- El Campamento Tortuguero Sirenito Macho, Mexico

This video was taken by our canadian friend Louise . 

In February 2012, I travelled to El Campamento Tortuguero Sirenito Macho on Playa Las Peñitas, near a town called "Marquelia", a four-hour bus ride South of Acapulco.
Sirenito Macho is a turtle sanctuary run by a man, Javier and his wife, Lucia -- with some help from their children. The family has built a coral for the turtle eggs. They patrol the beach every night and when they see signs of a new turtle nest, they carefully collect the eggs, transport them to the protected coral and bury them in the sand, the way mother turtles do. A few weeks later, when the baby turtles are born, Javier, his kids and/or visiting volunteers take the new born turtles to the beach and release them. I did that on two different occasions.

The turtles need to be protected because they are an endangered species. The eggs' worse predators are crabs and humans. Unfortunately, some people believe turtle eggs have aphrodisiac properties so, they steal them from the nests and eat them... 
The beach patrolling is done in the middle of the night, when the turtles come to release their eggs and bury them in the sand. Wednesday night (Feb 8) was a very lucky night. We saw one of each of the three different types of turtles that come to the area. Javier told me this has never happened before! The biggest turtle, a "Laud" was about two metres long by one metre wide! In general the marine turtles that make their nests on this beach (Las Penitas) lay between 60 and 80 eggs at a time!

On Thursday night, there were 64 new-born turtles which we transported from the protected coral to the beach. And, on Saturday morning, we released 53 more! I filmed the heartwarming event with my iPhone. It was beautiful to watch the little turtles run toward the water with so much determination! They seemed to know exactly where they were going.

In a few years, when the females are fully grown, they will return to the beach where they first entered the sea, and that's where they will make their nest.

I loved it at the Sirenito Macho and I definitely want to go back. I love the simple life. Javier and Lucia have casitas for visitors but they themselves sleep outside, under a roof of palm leaves. They rarely have many visitors except during the Holy Week. Other than that, business is very slow. Maybe a little Internet exposure will change that. To my taste, Sirenito Macho is a paradise!