One evening, perhaps five days after our arrival in Nuevo Vallarta, Earl returned from his evening walk with exciting news.
"I saw hundreds of baby turtles making their way out to sea!" he gushed, barely able to contain his excitement. He then described in vivid detail how small they were and how they made their way out to sea, some with great energy and drive while others struggled. He said that a large crowd had gathered to enjoy the experience.
I felt left out. For several nights, Earl and I had gone out to the beach hoping to spot Mummy Turtle wading up to lay her eggs but our efforts were in vain. Now, I was getting a vicarious thrill from him reliving his experience but oh, how I wanted to see the baby turtles. I decided that I wasn't going to leave without seeing them.
A couple evenings later, Earl returned from his walk with more baby turtle news.
"Someone was putting the baby turtles into a bucket!" he said, barely concealing his indignation at the sight he'd witnessed. "People were gathered around the baby turtles and this guy, this beach police officer, was just putting them into a bucket. He said he was going to take them to a game preserve where they would release them."
I was shocked. What a terrible thing to do to baby turtles, I thought, dumping them unceremoniously into a bucket! These beautiful creatures, so tender, so tiny who'd grow up to live for hundreds of years. How could anyone just dump them into a bucket and take them away? What if they ended up in someone's soup? Earl said someone gathered around the turtles had voiced a similar concern.
We decided that we'd patrol the beach every evening to look for the baby turtles.
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