Patrols consist in carrying out surveillance brigades along the 12 Km beach in search of sea turtle nests. Once identified, either through the trail left by the turtle or by sighting a female while she is ashore, they are then collected and transported back to the hatchery where they will be incubated to continue developing.

Night patrols are carried out daily, on ATVs/Quad bikes, from approximately 10pm-8am. Usually, two to three rounds are scheduled per night in order to avoid poaching, erosion and natural predation.

After the nests have been collected, they are deposited inside the hatchery, where they undergo constant temperature and humidity monitoring during the 45-60 day incubation period, to ensure their success. Each nest is labelled, registered and protected until the turtles hatch and rise to the surface.

Once the hatchlings have surfaced, the nests must be cleaned and registered. This consists in removing the organic debris that accumulates at the bottom of each nest, which is then disposed of back into the ocean, and also separating the eggs that have not yet completed their embryonic development or hatchlings that were too weak to rise to the surface by themselves.

The perfect moment to sit down and admire Mayto’s magical sunsets. The hatchlings are transported to the beach, at a minimum distance of 10 meters from the shore, to be released into the ocean.

During their stay, volunteers will also participate in daily maintenance activities to ensure the proper functioning of the facilities and work equipment – both at camp and at Mayto’s Centre for Environmental Education. These tasks include:

• Gardening and cleaning of green areas

• Construction (Botanical nurseries, creating pens for the hatchery)

• Painting and waterproofing of wood

• Electrical installations (cleaning of solar panels, wiring)

• General infrastructure repairs.

Only designed a few years ago, it has since become a space for volunteers to learn about and value to the use of natural resources, along with gaining a better knowledge about recyclable materials, such as plastic.

Volunteers will get the opportunity to separate, compress and convert used plastic materials collected from the surrounding communities. They will also learn about small-scale permaculture and where some of camps food comes from. Additionally, in recent months, Eco Mayto has started developing a bee conservation project, working on native and non-native species.

During their stay, volunteers can take part in beach and local community clean ups, to make the surrounding areas a safer and healthier environment for all organisms. Depending on the dates and logistics, volunteers may also participate in community care activities , such as sidewalks cleaning and painting, and covering needs for the town’s school.

Volunteers will get the opportunity to learn about all the biological aspects regarding sea turtle conservation. This includes camp operation, sea turtle morphology and incubation and if lucky, depending on capture rates, there could be a hawksbill workshop, in which volunteers will be shown how to register, measure and tag a hawksbill sea turtle. Additionally and depending on the dates and logistics, volunteers may also participate in workshops at CEAM on the different programs available (plastic debris transformation, working with bees, mangrove reforestation, etc.)

This activity has become one of the most popular of our program, due to the fact that it combines direct sea turtle research in their natural habitat, applying theoretical knowledge previously acquired in the workshops, while also allowing volunteers to experience the joy of navigating the open waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The objective is to capture two specimens of these reptiles, a male and a female if possible, to highlight behavioural and morphological patterns, as well as checking, marking and measuring the individuals. This will give the participants the opportunity to appreciate in detail a different aspect of sea turtle biology and research.

The boat tour begins at the Tehuamixtle dock, around 3km from Mayto, in the early hours of the morning. The excursions ends with a chance for volunteers to snorkel at different points within the bay.

Some of the region’s natural attractions will be visited, including nearby beaches, reefs for snorkelling and rivers for hiking while continuing to address conservation issues in general. Some of these visits may include Tlalpichichi’s beach, Corrales beach lighthouse and reefs, and Mayto’s estuary.

*These activities will be scheduled depending on weather conditions, number of participants and general transportation logisitcs.