Celebrating World Sea Turtle Day and Uniting Forces to Save Sea Turtles In Celebration of World Sea Turtle Day, we would like to share with you some exciting new developments in sea turtle conservation on the Baja California peninsula. A number of sea turtle conservation projects, along with some of the leading sea turtle conservationists working in Baja California, have recently united with the Grupo Tortuguero and found a new home at Pro Peninsula. Our motive behind this uniting of forces is simply TO PROTECT MORE SEA TURTLES!

Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, Hoyt Peckham, Zoe Rappoport and Stephen Delgado have joined the Pro Peninsula team bringing with them their successful projects, expertise and dedication to further solidify all of our conservation efforts. Each of their projects will now be run through Pro Peninsula, in coordination with the Grupo Tortuguero, the community-based Sea Turtle Conservation Network in northwest Mexico.

Projects you can look forward to following: ProCaguama is an integrated approach to reducing mortality of North Pacific loggerhead turtles in Baja California. This community-based sea turtle bycatch reduction project focuses on research, fishing gear modification, tailored fishing techniques, and community outreach and education to reduce mortality of loggerhead turtles in Bahia Magdelena. Hoyt Peckham and Dr. J. Nichols initiated this program with the help from local community members; it was embraced by the community and has been overwhelmingly successful in creating positive conservation attitudes in Bahia Magdelena and throughout the peninsula for over three years.

"Sea Turtles and Your Health: Potential risks associated with the consumption of sea turtle meat and eggs in northwestern Mexico," is a public health information campaign advising the public of the various contaminants, bacteria, and parasites that affect the health of sea turtle populations and may also affect the health of humans who consume sea turtle meat and eggs. The campaign is based on an ongoing review of scientific literature and is being developed in collaboration with local public health, medical, scientific and environmental conservation personnel. This informative campaign is being coordinated on the ground by Stephen Delgado and collaborators out of La Paz, Baja California Sur.

At a recent meeting of the Pro Peninsula board of directors, Dr. J. Nichols explained that, “Pro Peninsula has been a long term partner in our work in Mexico and they simply ‘get it’ when it comes to working with people in small coastal fishing villages. We're really excited about this transition and it feels right to everyone involved. The bottom line is that strategically this move will help us to protect more sea turtles.”

To learn more about Pro Peninsula’s sea turtle conservation projects, as well find bios and contact information for J., Hoyt, Zoe, and Stephen visit, www.propeninsula.org.