After 3 months of buses, hostels, diving, Spanish language fails and, of course, worldly epiphanies, I made it to this special island on the east coast of the Yucatan, Mexico. Cozumel is a tourism hotspot known for world-class diving and triathlon. It's no wonder why I found myself checking in to the ferry to get there. I was basically just following the Ironman decals covering the terminal. As it so happened, two university friends were living in Cozumel at the time. The last I saw them was on the unfavourably icy slopes of Alpe d'Huez in 2011. Here we were, in quite opposite conditions in the humid, beach paradise of Cozumel in 2014. Rachael and Adam were working in a dive shop along the commercial-fronted side of San Miguel, the only side of the island to have any real development. The rest of the island has, so far, been left undisturbed; white-sand beaches and mosquito-infested marshland are left as a contrast to the monstrous cruise ships, frosted margarita bowls and 10,000 identical jewellery and souvenir shops along the one sea-front main road. There's also a Hooters, although Sam was not so keen on going there at all... weird. Although we were originally planning on spending only a few days here, it just so happened (really, it was a coincidence!) that the Ironman 70.3 was to be held the following weekend. Rachael and Adam, the infinitely relaxed and accommodating people they are, not only opened their home to us, but also took me out on several diving trips. One of these in particular, towards the end of our trip, was centred around Sam. Throughout the previous three months I had been trying to persuade Sam of the enthralling life under the surface, but he was having none of it. Now, however, in the company of an instructor, divemaster and rescue diver, he finally cracked. Personally, I don't think he found it too painful. Sam and I managed get ourselves positions as finish line 'catchers' at the Ironman, repeating an enthusiastic 'felicidades!' and literally catching the shrivelled, dehydrated bags of people slumping over the finish line and crumpling under the weight of their medals. It was electric. We were running back and forth from finish line to medical tent for 6 hours in 100% humidity and 30+degrees. Not only was this just an outstanding day of the whole series of incredible travelling days, I managed to get a hug off this wonder-woman, who won the event, British pro Leanda Cave! Although all this excitement truly made our trip to Cozumel pretty magical, the best was yet to come: saving the turtles. Cozumel is host to two species of sea turtle, the loggerhead and the green. Both nest along the eastern coast which is largely undisturbed by tourists. The issue is with wild dogs, cats, vultures, but mostly with poachers. As with many cultures rife with traditional but totally unnecessary slaughter, turtle meat is considered a delicacy. There is also a black market for dried baby turtle necklaces. Yep. Real baby turtles hanging on a chain. There is, however, hope for these majestic, endangered creatures. A bunch of volunteers, just Cozumel locals, decided to do something about it. There is now a full-scale beach observation throughout the nesting season of the turtles from June to September, marking the location and awaiting the eruption of the little critters gung-ho-ing it to the sea. (11:14 in the video is Cozumel) Females of both species nest 3-7 times every season, leaving behind up to 210 eggs in nests up to 3 foot deep. It takes around 60 days until the babies hatch. Despite there being so many laid every year, the chance for these wee blighters to make it to sexual maturity is less than 1%. Those odds only consider the natural, environmental pressures. When you throw poaching into the mix, it is a painfully small number of these adorable characters that are able to contribute to the survival of their species. On average 90% of each clutch successfully leave the nest. The remaining 10% are left squashed, misshapen and disfigured by their over-zealous siblings lucky enough to be laid above them. It is therefore key, no more than a few hours after the nests erupt, that the remaining half-hatched bent-double baby turtles are rescued from the bottom of their sandy graves before they have no chance for reproduction at all. Saving just a few of these charismatic, enthusiastic creatures reignited my desire to dedicate my life to such endeavours. Their tiny little mal-formed bodies wriggled and squirmed, desperate to be free and scuttle head-first into the great huge ocean beyond. Do they know where they're heading? or why? How do they even know which direction the sea is from their minuscule buried perspectives is just incredible. Against the odds, their drive to live and thrive is actually a little inspirational - if a teeny weeny turtle can want to tackle the big blue wilderness, surely something like an ironman is peanuts.
If you happen to be visiting Cozumel for any reason (such as racing in the ITU Triathlon World Champs in September perhaps!?), please do check out the Programa de Proteccion a la Tortuga Marina. There's never enough hands on deck to help dig out these adorable pequeña tortugas, and it really adds a sense of purpose to your evening.
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AuthorJenny was born in Dorset, and now is living in Mozambique. She participates in long-distance triathlon and rowing challenges. She has a conservation degree, and is currently working toward her masters degree studying the Stingrays of Mozambique. Archives
June 2017
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