From the time we hit Baja California Sur, we have been seeing turtle nests in protective pens on the beaches. Never before today had we connected with one when a caretaker was attending to the nests.

Today on a walk along the beach with several other cruisers, I noticed that a caretaker was in the one large turtle nest pen here in Bahia Tenacatita. Wouldn’t you know I didn’t have my camera on me (nor did anyone else). However, we got to watch the caretaker dig up the nest and collect the Leatherback turtles that had already hatched. He placed the 25 to 30 hatched turtles into a bucket to hold for release in the evening, when the chance of escaping the many birds is greater for them. He then gently placed any un-hatched and partially hatched eggs back into the hole and covered them back up with warm sand, their progress to be checked on again tomorrow.

He allowed us to hold the newly hatched turtles, which fit easily in the palm of our hands. It was so amazing!

Friday evenings in Tenacatita, the cruisers have a dinghy raft-up. One dinghy drops an anchor and the others tie up off that one in a circle. Everyone brings an appetizer to share around the circle and we all visit and share stories. The “Mayor” (a cruiser who accepts the responsibility of organizing activities in the anchorage) usually selects an icebreaker topic to include when we go around the circle and introduce ourselves. This Friday’s topic was “amazing things we have seen in nature while boating/cruising”. I now have a new “amazing thing” on my list!