Civil Protection officials from Santa María Tonameca continue to monitor several lagoons were olive ridley turtles are being found stranded, and sometimes even dead.
Officials have been rescuing and relocating sea turtles stranded in the La Salina lagoon.
The turtles arrive by the thousands in events known as arribadas at nearby La Escobilla Beach, renowned as a turtle nesting sanctuary. Turtles often wander from the beach and end up in such lagoons, where they can become stranded and die.
Civil Protection director Geovani Ríos Ramírez told Estado Actual that staff have rescued more than 235 turtles. “We take them out of the lagoon and release them on the beach, which is their natural habitat,” he said.
Residents of the nearby towns of Macahuite and Escobilla, who share the extensive beach with the sanctuary, charged that efforts by the staff at the Escobilla turtle camp have been “almost non-existent.”
According to the same claims, groups of conservationists and turtle protecters also fail to aid in their rescue.
“Just one or two people from the camp show up very occasionally and only when Civil Protection is already at work,” annoyed residents told Estado Actual.
Reports are that hundreds of turtles have died in La Salina and in two other fresh water lagoons while waiting to be rescued and released on the beach.
“Something has to be done about it. They should not continue to die due to lack of help or actions that inhibit their access to bodies of fresh water,” they said.
With reports by Estado Actual
