Hotel's Ecological commitment
Turning the tide for turtles
For approximately six months of the year (July through December) hundreds of thousands of rare sea turtles return to the same beach in which they were born to lay millions of eggs. Because the Sea Turtle reproductive cycle obeys its lunar phases, these female turtles come ashore mostly during fuller moons, many of them laying their eggs on the pristine beaches of Punta Teonoste. There are other places in the world that bear witness to turtle hatching but Nicaragua is one of only four countries where turtle hatchings occur on such a large scale. Each month along Nicaragua’s stunning coastline, several thousand sea turtles come ashore and lay an average of 100 eggs each. Punta Teonoste employs two local men to protect and nurture the turtles visiting out beach and during incubation. If desired, we notify our guests during the times of nesting and hatchings to witness this unique experience.
Protected turtle nesting & hatching
Fauna & flora international have provided Punta Teonoste with valuable assistance to build, develop and keep running successfully the turtle hatching and preserve turtles for future generations.
We invite our guests to live this unique experience of nature, if you are interested, we will gladly inform you when we have turtle nesting or birth.
The recent decline in Leatherbacks has been dramatic. In the sothern Pacific the number of nesting females has collapsed from tens of thousands 20 years ago to fewer than one thousand today. This ancient reptile has been in existence for millions of years, yet it is now Critically Endangered.
Fauna & Flora International’s Marine Turtle Conservation Programme has conserved marine turtles in Nicaragua since 2002. Several important Leatherback nesting beaches are located along the country’s coast, as well as two ‘arribada’ beaches, where the spectacular mass-nesting phenomenon of Olive Ridley Lepidochelys olivacea turtles takes place. Our work focuses on safeguarding key nesting sites for Leatherbacks and other endangered turtles, such as Olive Ridley’s and Hawksbill.
Changing perceptions of local communities towards nature and involving them in the conservation of the natural resources upon which they have traditionally relied is proving invaluable in the fight to save Leatherback turtles from extinction. The work also serves as a useful blueprint for tackling conservation crises elsewhere.
6788 turtles have been born so far!
We invite you to download the following incubation and turtle births datathat we have in our nursery Birth August 2010.
