Dogs are Mauling and Killing Sea Turtles Again

Olive Ridley sea turtles nest on our beaches here in southern Baja. I took this photo years ago and since then we’ve seen many nests and experienced joy watching the babies come out of the nest and make their way to the ocean.

Here are babies struggling to get out of the nest.

And these are about to enter their ocean home.

We’ve also seen many dead females who have been mauled to death by loose dogs. A couple in our neighborhood don’t seem to understand that you can’t allow your large pack of dogs to run loose on our beaches. They’ve been fined and threatened by authorities to keep their dogs (at one point they had 12) within their property. It’s very difficult to get the authorities to respond, and this couple has never complied to the law for very long. Their dogs are once again attacking and killing the females who have come to lay their eggs.

It is the saddest and most horrific thing to see these defenseless creatures dead on our beaches.

Warning: At the end of this post I will add some photos. Don’t scroll to the end if you do not wish to view them.

Olive Ridley Turtles nest on our beaches here in Todos Santos, El Pescadero, and Los Cerritos.

These creatures are vulnerable when they come to lay their eggs. For many years we’ve discovered them lying dead with their flippers mauled.

This past week I’ve come across three of them in that situation on the Gavilan beach. Allowing dogs to run loose without owners with them means this will continue to happen.

The Olive Ridley sea turtle is sometimes called a beautiful dancer, because after the female lays her eggs, she bounces on the sand, pounding it flat to seal the site where she has deposited her eggs. She props herself up on her front flippers and hind legs, alternately bouncing her plastron side to side in a little dance.

Most Olive Ridley lay 2 or 3 clutches of eggs each year–each clutch can be up to 110 eggs. Another interesting fact is that the eggs that reach the highest temperatures (86-88 degrees) become females, hence they are mostly found in the center of the nest. (Yes, girls are hot!)

Adult Ridley eat crabs, snails, clams, barnacles, algae, fish, fish eggs, and jellyfish. Sounds like they might like the sushi bar.

Here in southern Baja on our beaches the turtles come up to nest between July and December. It can take from 6 weeks to 2 months before turtles hatch. It depends on a lot of things, but mostly temperature.

We can all do our part to keep trash, not just straws, out of the ocean, accompany your dogs and keep them in control, and do what you can to keep our beaches natural.

Throw your trash in the ocean or on the beach? Drive on the beach? Let your dog run loose without being with you? A resounding, “NO!” The turtles will thank you by living to come nest on a beach near you.

HELP SAVE THE TURTLES

Stop scrolling if you don’t want to see the photos.