“Unveiling Cancún’s Spectacular Sea Turtle Nesting Season: Expect 9,000 Nests”

The Benito Juárez Municipality's Ecology Department is already busy preparing for the 2024 sea turtle nesting season. They are currently training hotel staff and making other necessary arrangements, with the expectation of recording at least 9,000 nests this season.

Tanía Fernández Moreno, the head of the Ecology Department, stated that while the nesting season typically starts in May, the first sea turtle arrivals were documented in the last week of April in 2023. As a result, they've decided to get a jump start on their preparations this year to ensure the turtles are protected throughout the nesting period and up until their release, which usually extends until November.

Training is being provided to staff from hotels, residences, and other locations in the nesting area. This includes nearly 300 individuals who have direct contact with the turtles, such as lifeguards and security personnel.

Plans for 2024 include the installation of approximately 53 or 54 turtle enclosures along a nearly 12-kilometer stretch between Punta Cancún and Club Med. This coastline is a popular nesting spot for the four species of sea turtles that frequent Cancún: the Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Green, and Leatherback.

It's important to note that turtle nesting patterns can vary annually due to factors such as climate, the cleanliness and condition of the sandy areas, the number of cold fronts, weather events, and more. However, the key to a successful nesting season is maintaining clean beaches and minimizing stress for the arriving turtles.

The 2023 nesting season not only started early in the last week of April, but the final release of hatchlings didn't occur until January 2024. By the end of the season, 11,331 nests were recorded, 1,282,839 eggs were safeguarded, and 1,205,170 hatchlings were released.