San Pancho and Turtle News from Costa Verde Ecological Group Frank D. Smith - Ecological Group of Costa Verde
May 2, 2016

Hola Volunteers, Supporters and Readers ~

Turtle wise: The big news comes from Puerto Vallarta and to some degree, from areas up and down our coast. Over one hundred male marine turtles have died due to the consumption of toxic seaweed, but all the facts are not in yet. Except for two dead males that washed ashore here on the 14th and the 28th (they may have been carried by the current from the Puerto Vallarta area), it seems that we may have escaped the carnage for now.

No nests were found in the month of April. One nest of the four left on the beach hatched successfully, while the other three iguana nests are still in incubation. Finding fewer nests last season gives me a terrible premonition that this coming season may be a massive one, perhaps around 1,450 nests or more. Hopefully, our plans to leave most of the nests on the beach and disguise them, including placing an average of only seven nests in the box nursery each night, will reduce our work load by fifty percent.

Dune buggy wise: we have only one minor problem: the transmission will not stay in reverse. If we can’t repair it locally, it may have to be repaired in Puerto Vallarta. The only other repair job this winter we reinforcing and welding the fenders.

We need help finding volunteers!!! We need help in the early part of the season, May through June 21st, and again in the late part of the season, September through mid-December. The color-coded chart HERE shows our three apartments. The numbers in each square indicate rooms that are available in each apartment for either a single person or a couple.

Weather-wise: Daytime temperatures were in the low to high 80°s, night time in the low to high 60°s to very low 70°s. There was no unusual weather event. No rainfall in April. Total for the year was 2.54 inches. At the bridge the river is all but completely dry. The lagoon remains closed off to the sea despite attempts to force it open.

Despite living in one of the finer communities along the coast, offering beautiful beaches and parks, Entreamigos, La Patrona (a world class polo club), the Los Olas Country Club, Los Huertas Golf Course, along with wonderful restaurants and shops, we seem to be losing our north-of-the-border friends at an alarming rate.

Since 1998, when we published our first Homeowner’s Directory, we have lost over 120 of our north-of-the-border friends, while another dozen or so have placed their home/property up for sale. For those who live here the year around for a decade or more, it’s a sad state-of-affairs to have lost so many good companions.

Since our first 80 newsletters were emailed out in 1999, (noting that most of them were intended for past volunteers), that number has increased to over 800 mailings today. Many of the current subscribers have vanished from San Pancho, and perhaps many others are no longer interested in receiving our news. Since we are receiving little comments or feedback, maybe it is an indication that it is time to offer a way to Unsubscribe. If you unsubscribe, you still can read our current newsletter on our website under Newsletter.

Town and Country wise: Tourism is slowing, dropping to a near mid-summer low and for once there is ample parking near the beach. New home construction is still at near zero, although home and property sales are up along with new home and property listings. The construction at the Polo facility, including the construction of a new hotel within the old Costa Azul Hotel site, are both in high gear. Both construction sites are La Patrona projects.

Regular gasoline is around $3.00 USD per gallon, 16.9 to 16.6 pesos per dollar down from 18.5 over a month ago.

As far as we know, there is no Zika virus in the state of Nayarit or Jalisco.

Frank D. Smith, Director
Grupo Ecológico de la Costa Verde, A.C.
Project Tortuga
Tel. 311-258-4100

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