Help create awareness about sea turtle consumption this spring.

For centuries, sea turtles have been used as feast food throughout Latin America during Catholic celebrations such as Semana Santa. During Easter or the Lenten season, traditional Catholic rules prohibit the consumption of ‘meat’, yet allow food such as ‘fish’ and other types of seafood to be eaten as a substitute. Although sea turtles do live in the sea, they are actually reptiles related to tortoises, lizards, and even dinosaurs; they are not fish, invertebrates, or crustaceans, and do have 'red' meat. This spring, we are creating awareness about the threats sea turtles face, and encouraging people to abstain from consuming sea turtle meat, particularly during the Lenten Season and Holy Week. Because of the common misconception of them as 'fish,' it is estimated that as many as 10,000 endangered green, loggerhead, and olive ridley sea turtles are taken for feast food each year during Catholic religious holidays. Other species, such as leatherbacks, are also at risk as their eggs are poached in massive quantities throughout Latin America.

Sea turtles have been swimming the ocean for millions of years, but are now facing a real threat of extinction. Currently, all seven species of sea turtles are either endangered or critically endangered, and for some populations there are so few that their status is simply unknown. These species are slow growing and long lived, thus making populations extremely vulnerable to massive declines. For sea turtles, each and every individual makes a difference for the future of the entire species. They are the indicators of our ocean’s health and we depend upon the ocean for our own existence. Thus, if these ancient species vanish during our lifetime, our future is likely just as bleak.

We are asking for the help of all our members and supporters in raising awareness about this issue in the Vatican and throughout the world. If religious figures, and hopefully the Pope himself, become more informed of the great damage being done to sea turtle populations during Lent and Easter, perhaps they will be motivated to use their power and influence to help save these endangered creatures.

What you can do to help

• Write a letter to the Pope: Help us in creating awareness in the Vatican about the plight of our sea turtles. Their support would be invaluable to mitigating sea turtle consumption during Lent and Easter, and would be of great help in allowing sea turtle populations to recover.Click here to sign and send a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, requesting his help in the fight to save our endangered sea turtles.
  
• Adopt a Sea Turtle: The Grupo Tortuguero and Pro Peninsula work tirelessly to study, understand, and protect the sea turtles that make the Baja California peninsula their home. When you adopt one of our sea turtles, your donation goes directly towards helping our teams on the peninsula monitor sea turtles and carry out sea turtle education projects in local communities on the importance of protecting these majestic creatures.

You can find a full report on this issue by clicking here.

The 2007 International Sea Turtle Symposium, held the end of February in Myrtle Beach, SC, was a huge success: over a thousand people from around the world gathered together to share their experiences and the results of their projects on behalf of the recovery and conservation of sea turtles. The Grupo Tortuguero was no exception and this year we had a particularly strong showing at the ISTS. GT team members presented the results of 5 years of continuous work on the peninsula using the 'conservation mosaic' model, which consists of communication, science, and network building. Our message was clear: we are a group of individuals that not only care for sea turtles, but for the people that make up our conservation network, which has lead to the creation of one big conservation family. Additionally, it was exciting for all of us to see how the Grupo Tortuguero has become an example for other projects in Latin America and the rest of the world, many of which have adopted our conservation model to enhance their own work.

The community of Loreto and the Grupo Tortuguero invite you in 2008!

Next year, in addition to celebrating our tenth anniversary, the Grupo Tortuguero will have the honor of hosting the 28th International Sea Turtle Symposium in the city of Loreto. Organizing the event will be challenging, but the entire Grupo Tortuguero team is more than willing, and very excited, to take it on. In the words of Wallace J Nichols, current president of the ISTS, “this will be different, be prepared for the adventure. We want you to keep in mind all that Baja has to offer, so arrive early and stay late.” Mark your calendars, the meeting will be held from January 19-27.

The invitation was made and the response we received was outstanding. On the last day of the meeting, down the halls of the hotel, in cabs on the way to the airport, and on the plane rides home, there was a common sentiment in the air: “…next year’s meeting in Baja sounds amazing, I can’t wait to go to México…”

Adelita was the first loggerhead sea turtle tracked via satellite from the Baja California peninsula to the island of Japan.

Ten years ago, Adelita, a female loggerhead sea turtle, was making her way across the Pacific Ocean, passing a few hundred miles northwest of Hawaii, on her way to lay eggs on the beaches of Japan. In 1996 Wallace J. Nichols, Jeffrey Seminoff, and Antonio Resendiz set the 223-pound reptile on the beach at Santa Rosalita in Baja California with a satellite transmitter bonded to her shell, and wished her well. Adelita would eventually make the 6,000-plus mile journey from Baja California to her birthplace of Kyushu Island, Japan, confirming that animals do cross the Pacific Ocean and that what we do on one side of the ocean impacts the other side. Adelita’s journey was truly the start of an ocean revolution. Adelita was the first sea turtle to wear a satellite transmitter bonded to her shell and head out across the Pacific Ocean. Whenever Adelita would surface, the one-pound transmitter would beam her location to a satellite, tracking her movements from the Baja California peninsula all the way to Japan. For the first time, researchers had confirmation that sea turtle conservation programs must span the globe in order to be effective.

Ten years later, our knowledge of the ocean has expanded considerably. Since Adelita, researchers and volunteers have tagged numerous sea turtles, birds, sharks, marine mammals, and even pelagic fish like tuna. With the data from all these animal-based transmitters we have identified important ocean hotspots where ocean wildlife congregates to feed, and know much more about migration patterns of various marine species. You can click here to read a full report on the subject.

Despite our newfound knowledge, sea turtles throughout the world are struggling for survival. Sea turtles are facing numerous challenges – pollution, entanglement in fishing nets, stealing of turtle eggs (considered a delicacy) and poaching of adults for meat have all been contributing to their decline for decades. They now face a new threat: global warming. The gender of hatchlings is determined by the temperature of egg incubation, just as with many reptiles. Warmer temperatures lead to more females, which researchers say has been the case in Malaysia, one of the most important leatherback nesting beaches in the world.

Even with so much against them, sea turtle biologists like Nichols and Seminoff, and volunteers such as the members of the Grupo Tortuguero, aren’t ready to give up. They have dedicated their lives to saving these species and thanks to their efforts sea turtles just may make it.

Learn more about Adelita's journey and the lives of other sea turtles, tune into your local PBS station on Sunday, April 15th from 8:00 - 9:00 pm.

Eréndira Valle Padilla, or Ere, first visited the beautiful but threatened park of Cabo Pulmo in 2002. She came as a volunteer, to monitor sea turtle nesting beaches, and quickly became enamored with the diversity of wildlife and the beautiful landscape that defines Cabo Pulmo. Just two years later Ere became the Executive Director of Amigos para la Conservacion de Cabo Pulmo (ACCP), and due to her passion and vision the community-based organization has become a true force for conservation in the region. Originally from Mexico City, she worked in the medium of movies and television for over 10 years, teaching courses on cinematography, video and television at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, earning national and international recognition for her work. It was her production of a documentary on transgenic corn in Mexico that first introduced her to the world of conservation and the environment.

"It's now or never."

After this experience, coupled with her time spent volunteering in Cabo Pulmo, Ere began the production of a series of documentaries focused on environmental conservation on the Baja California peninsula. Throughout this time she continued to work closely with ACCP and in 2004 she became Executive Director of the group. Since then, ACCP has officially became an independent Asociación Civil (A.C.)- or Mexican non-profit- and has carried out numerous projects at the local and state level. Every day Ere fights arduously for the survival and integrity of Cabo Pulmo National Park, home to hundreds of species of wildlife including 3 species of sea turtle, nesting site for bald eagles and the only living coral reef on the peninsula.

"Above all I love to travel and get to know my country. While traveling I have realized how the environment is wasting away; I return to a place that was once enchanting to find it polluted, falling apart, and with local people who are poorer than they used to be. I realized that nature is our greatest bounty, but we don't know how to take care of it."

Through her work at ACCP, Ere is working so that people in her community and the wider world can learn to take care of their environment. When asked what message she would like to pass on to future generations, she said simply: "it's now or never."

Join us in empowering communities on the Baja California peninsula to protect and preserve their environment. Become a board member!

Pro Peninsula is led by an active and dedicated board of directors, engaged in everything from setting organizational policy to fundraising to planning events and projects. It has been the long-term commitment and passion of our board members that has directed this organization to where it is today- we thank you! If you are looking for another way to get involved, think about joining the Pro Peninsula Advisory Board or Board of Directors. Becoming a board member is a unique way to learn first-hand about our work, support our mission and contribute to environmental conservation on the Baja California peninsula, as well as have the opportunity to travel to amazing places throughout the peninsula and work with wonderful people. Contact us today to learn about board opportunities. Upcoming board meeting: April 22, 2007, Pro Peninsula offices. Please contact us if you are interested in attending.