Melissa Manning www.melissajoymanning.com
One of our guests, Melissa Manning, had an incredible experience on the beach in front of Casa de Las Olas. Baby turtles being protected by local environmentalists were sighted by Melissa and this has become a forever memory captured on camera. Melissa has been kind enough to share her turtle story and photos with all of us! Thanks Melissa for this wonderful memory and incredible story of your vacation at Casa de las Olas!
Turtles, turtles everywhere on the Tulum beach
It was the movement that caught my eye. A scurrying across the sand that was both too big and forwardly linear to be a crab. I was up & running across the beach even as my mind processed what I was seeing: 5 little black turtle hatchlings that were busily making their way to the sea.
As an artist inspired by nature, seeing these turtles make their way across the beach was a blessing and I was immediately obsessed! I had heard about turtle season in Mexico but, for one reason or another, had always seemed to miss it. So, it was with great excitement that I spent the next few days travelling the beach on foot looking for nests and baby turtles. Unfortunately, though, I was having little luck duplicating my original discovery on my own.
A magical sustainability moment in Tulum Mexico
It was late afternoon when I heard the RTV approach down the beach. It came down the sand, bearing a bright orange bucket strapped to the handlebars. Curious, I approached the driver to see what he was all about. I found myself instantly delighted by his cargo- he was a naturalist and his bucket was full of baby turtles; scrambling over each other, climbing the sides, flipping this way and that, doing, I guess, what baby turtles do! Excitedly, I learned that his job was turtle mapping- he spent every morning marking new turtle nests and each afternoon visiting those he knew were due to hatch. If a nest had indeed hatched that day, he dug through the sand to find any little guys who were buried too deep in the sand or too weak to break through their shells. Once rescued, they were added to his neon bucket to scrabble with other hatchlings until 9:30 each night when he released them into the surf. The night freeing, he said, ensured the babies a higher chance of survival since the birds didn’t hunt at night. Amazingly, he let me hold a few of his endangered prizes.
Gently pinching the little turtles between my finger tips and staring into their weirdly charming but beady little eyes is an experience I won’t soon forget. The abundance of nature continually amazes me and it was with great joy that I was able to help these little turtles find the sea.
Copyright Melissa Manning www.melissajoymanning.com
Copyright Melissa Manning www.melissajoymanning.com
Thank you Melissa for sharing this great post and your Casa de las Olas experience! We share in your beliefs which can be seen through your jewelry designs and materials on your website. We love what you do and the philosophy behind your designs. Read more about Melissa’s committment to sustainable practices, a belief that drew her to Casa de las Olas and we are sure will have her return.
