The fourth annual monitoring meeting of the Grupo Tortuguero, held August 12-13 in Lopez Mateos, was a huge success with over 50 participants representing 13 communities throughout the peninsula and mainland Mexico. This meeting is a chance for members of the network to come together and celebrate the work they are doing to preserve the world’s sea turtles, as well as to share data, experiences and lessons learned while working throughout Baja California and the Sea of Cortez. At this meeting we had the opportunity to welcome the new members of the Grupo Tortuguero monitoring network - Agua Verde, El Pardito and the municipality of Guasave, Sinaloa. Each of these sites is a sea turtle hotspot, and we are lucky to have them join our team. Additionally, the new Comite Coordinador (coordinating committee) of the Grupo Tortuguero was formed, with 5 individuals, representing each municipality within the network, elected to the committee. This committee will guide decision-making and ensure that all communities within the network are equally represented.

We would like to thank the ProCaguama team and the pueblo of Lopez Mateos for hosting this year’s meeting; National Marine Fisheries Service for their sponsorship of the meeting; and Rachel Tuck for her time and energy volunteering at the meeting and the sea turtle festival!

This monitoring meeting, held each fall, is a precursor to the Annual Meeting of the Grupo Tortuguero. The 8th Annual Meeting will be held in Loreto, BCS, January 27-29, 2006. This meeting is open to the public and we hope to see you there! For more information about the Grupo Tortuguero visit www.grupotortuguero.org .

This April, Pro Peninsula Co-Director Chris Pesenti joined a cadre of Baja California peninsula conservationists at the Waterkeeper Annual Meeting in Pennsylvania. Representatives from La Paz, Punta Abreojos, San Carlos, San Diego Baykeeper, Environment Now, CEMDA (Mexican Environmental Law Center), and DAN (Northwestern Environmental Defense), spent several days discussing community driven conservation of local waterbodies to be supported by direct legal action within the Waterkeeper Alliance. Magdalena Baykeeper, or Vigilantes de Bahía Magdalena, was accepted as a new Keeper within the network, to be headed by Julio Solís, long-time Grupo Tortuguero member and San Carlos resident.

photo Eliza Steinmeier

As a follow up to this meeting, on August 17th, Kama Dean and Chris Pesenti attended the formal inauguration of the Vigilantes de Bahía Magdalena in San Carlos, BCS, México. The group launched the opening of their office on the central plaza in San Carlos. Keeper Julio Solís led the event, describing the group’s goal of protecting the precious waters around Bahía Magdalena. The area is home to gray whales, sea turtles, and a host of aviary and marine life, not to mention an extensive mangrove system and highly productive fisheries. Some of the threats include water pollution from industrial and other manmade sources, overfishing, and poaching. Stay tuned for developments from Bahía Magdalena.

Introducing our NEW Student and Classroom membership rate, which for a limited time includes an Ocean Revolution wristband! This new membership level reaches out to the influential conservation leaders of tomorrow, empowering them to get involved today. Our membership is broken up into six categories, however a donation of any size is appreciated! Student/Classroom, includes our biannual newsletter, sticker(s) and pencil(s) - $25.00 Member, includes our biannual newsletter and a sticker - $35.00 Family, includes our biannual newsletter, sticker & t-shirt - $50.00 Friend, includes our biannual newsletter, sticker & long sleeve t-shirt - $150.00 Partner, includes our biannual newsletter, sticker, long sleeve t-shirt and Chelonia, a sea turtle book for children - $500.00 Patron, includes our biannual newsletter, sticker, long sleeve t-shirt and Chelonia, a sea turtle book for children - $1,000.00

Don’t miss out! The first ten membership contributions of $100 or more will receive a signed copy of Chelonia: Return of the Sea Turtle, a beautiful children’s book based on a true event. The story describes the rescue of a young green sea turtle off Baja California, and her eventual recovery and return to the wild thanks to a young girl and her father in San Diego, CA. Author Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, founder of the Grupo Tortuguero and Pro Peninsula Director of Conservation Science, will personally sign each of the ten Chelonia books. Don’t forget to reference the special offer with your donation. Click here to donate online.

The ProCAGUAMA 2005 team, along with the community of López Mateos, hosted the Third Annual Festival de las Caguamas (Loggerhead Sea Turtle Festival) in Puerto Adolfo López Mateos, BCS on August 12 & 13. Over 1,500 people from López Mateos and other parts of BCS turned out for the festival. A parade through town kicked-off the event on Friday night, starting activities that didn’t cease until late Sunday evening. Saturday and Sunday were filled with mini-marathons, carnival rides, soccer games, and live entertainment including dancing, singing and music. Citlaly I was crowned the queen of the festival and spokeswoman for the cause. Loggerhead turtles, known locally as caguamas, connect the ecosystems and cultures of the Pacific Rim through their migrations. Turtles born on the beaches of Japan migrate across the Pacific to feed and mature in the waters off Baja California. Once mature, females return to Japan to lay their eggs and continue this cycle of life. Off Puerto López Mateos, the turtles forage close to shore where gillnet fishing is intense, resulting in severe turtle bycatch - the greatest known threat to loggerheads in the North Pacific.

The Festival de las Caguamas was launched in 2003 to celebrate the unique value loggerhead turtles have as a local treasure. We’ve received overwhelming positive response to the Festival and our other outreach efforts, as people realize that caguamas gather (and die) here like nowhere else in the Pacific. The ProCAGUAMA team has been working with halibut fishermen to develop solutions to avoid turtle mortality while maintaining livelihoods. Additionally the team has implemented an extensive education and outreach program, engaging kids, youth and women throughout Lopez Mateos and teaching them the important role their community plays in world sea turtle conservation. The festival highlighted the community’s efforts and emphasized that the caguamas’ future is largely in the hands of BCS fishermen, women, youth and kids.

Click here to see more photos of the event.

Summer 2005 Vol. 58:3

Pro Peninsula is gaining media attention! Check out the articles in the California Academy of Sciences' magazine, California Wild, Summer 2005 Vol. 58:3. Grupo Tortuguero - Bringing Baja's Turtles Back from the Brink http://www.calacademy.org/calwild/2005summer/stories/tortugueros.html Turning Turtle - Turtle Fishermen of Baja California Turn Conservationists http://www.calacademy.org/calwild/2005summer/stories/turtles.html