Save Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat at Akumal Bay Beach!
- by: Sherwood Anders
- recipient: Carlos Ortiz, President of CEA and Owner of ABR
The Akumal Bay Beach Hotel (formerly Akumal Beach Resort, or ABR) has erected about twenty palapas on the beach in a known and recognized turtle nesting area.
Akumal means "place of the turtle" in Maya, and is home to hundreds of loggerhead, green and sea turtles who return each year to nest and lay their eggs on the beach. Turtle nesting season runs May through November and each year, thousands of young hatchlings are born and begin their journey to the ocean.
Centro Ecologico Akumal for many years oversaw a turtle program that protected, identified, and assisted nesting turtles, the nests and the hatchlings. The construction of the palapas in front of the ABR seriously impedes the ability of mother turtles to find adequate nesting areas. If a mother turtle cannot find an acceptable place to make her nest, she will return to the sea and abort all of her eggs there. A typical turtle nest will contain about 100 eggs.
Carlos Ortiz is not only the owner and operator of the Akumal Beach Resort, he is currently the President of CEA as well. This is a HUGE conflict of interest - that the President of an ECOLOGIC center created to PRESERVE and PROTECT the environment, and more specifically, the turtles NATIVE to the area - acts in his own interests and PERMITS the construction and placement of these palapas on a FEDERALLY recognized and protected breeding area is unacceptable and should be illegal.
Demand that Carlos Ortiz act in an environmentally, socially, morally and ethically RESPONSIBLE manner and REMOVE the palapas immediately. The palapas MUST be removed from the beach by the beginning of turtle nesting season, May 1, 2015.
The turtles thank you for being their voice.
Mr. Ortiz,
As a property owner in North Akumal on Half Moon Bay, I have been involved in the preservation and protection of turtles in Akumal for the last 12 years. As a CEA volunteer for many years, I was certified in turtle nesting procedures, as well as involved in fundraising efforts and the coordination and planning of the Gala Event for seven years, from 2005 to 2012. I was shocked and appalled at the construction of the palapas in front of your resort, the Akumal Bay Beach Hotel and Wellness Center, formerly known as the Akumal Beach Resort. That these hindrances to the turtles' nesting was authorized and directed by the DIRECTOR of CEA was doubly disturbing - the very person to whom the protection should be the most important mission of his office. My dismay is shared by many others, including property owners, regular visitors, tourists and others who care about nature and the turtles. I sponsored a petition asking you to remove the palapas before April 30, in time for the turtle nesting season, which begins on May 1st. Over 2,000 people from around the globe have signed this petition, and it was shared worldwide over 4,100 times. Do the right thing and remove the palapas. I and others are more than happy to help and assist in this process if needed. Beach umbrellas can be used in their place, and would prove to be a more lucrative endeavour for your resort as they could be rented for hourly use and are less expensive to purchase than the construction of palapas. The concrete foundations for the palapas need to be removed, as well, so as to not interfere with a turtle's abilty to dig a nest out.
Respectfully,
Sherwood Freeman Anders
President, La Iguana Condos
Half Moon Bay, North Akumal, Quintana Roo
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