November to April Releases
Welcome to the Villa Star of the Sea Sea Turtle Preservation on beautiful Playa de Coco, Jalisco, Mexico, where nature, conservation, and the quiet rhythm of
the Pacific come together. Here, each season brings the wonder of nesting turtles and hatchlings returning to the sea. We invite you to
discover and celebrate one of the Costalegre's most meaningful natural treasures.
Our Seasonal Sea Turtle Preservation efforts are possible, through the kindness and generosity of patrons of La Sirena Gordita Restaurant, and Mark Vermeeren,
who wakes at 0345 hrs and drives to meet Eileen at 0415 Hrs every 2nd morning, November to AprIL, along with Coco "the Wonder Pup" to search for Sea Turtle clutches
to relocate to the Turtle Sanctuary at Villa Star of the Sea. Each excursion, our goal is only to find and relocate one or two turtle egg clutches to our sanctuary.
At the end of the season in April, after the last of the hatchlings are released, the sanctuary is dug up, and cleaned out, and new beach sand is placed into the sanctary
and in October maintenance and repairs are performed to ready for the new November season.
In Mexico, sea turtles and their eggs are protected under federal law, and the unauthorized collection, possession, disturbance, or destruction of turtle eggs can carry serious legal penalties. Because of that legal protection, our work at Villa Star of the Sea is carried out only under proper authority and within an approved conservation framework. We are certified and permitted through federal authorization associated with the University of Guadalajara, allowing us to lawfully recover and protect eggs for preservation purposes while supporting responsible conservation of these endangered species on Playa de Coco. As part of that work, we also maintain careful field monitoring, recording destroyed nests encountered during patrols, counting each egg collected, identifying the species, and tracking hatch rates from the sanctuary so that our preservation efforts remain responsible, informed, and accountable, and report back to the University of Guadalajara with these statistics.
Our hatchling releases, when we release, are done thirty minutes before sunrise, and fifteen minutes after sunset, when they are less vulnerable from land and sea preditors. They are released without notice. We traditionally do not announce our releases, ensuring focus making sure turtle hatchlings make it safely to the ocean. Coco stands guard at releases and will keep birds at bay, and crabs that might go after the hatchlings. She has been known to snap at people who get too close, and she has rescued hatchlings that have been pulled by crabs into their habitat.
