Around the Horn

Day 43: Acupulco, Mexico

Our very busy stay in Acupulco had us up early in order to catch our first tour of the day, the Interactive Sea Turtle Release. We boarded a bus for the 45-minute ride through the city and beautiful residential areas to the Sea Turtle Centre, where we were given a brief orientation on the mandate and the operation of the Centre. Our guide gave us facts, figures and information about the 8 species of Sea Turtles in general, and particularly the 2 species which come to the Acupulco area to lay their eggs each year, the Golfina (smallest of the species) and the Leatherback (largest). We were to release the newly-hatched Golfinas and escort them to their new home in the ocean.

The marine biologist who runs the facility goes out each evening during the hatching season and retrieves eggs from the new nests made by the female Golfinas.He then transfers the eggs to nests in an area secure from predators, and places a sign over each nest to indicate the exact date of hatching. Baby sea turtles must be released into the ocean on the very day they hatch, otherwise they will lose their imprinted orientation and will never return to the same hatching ground. Left alone to hatch in the wild, only 1 of 100 babies would make it safely to the ocean, and only 3 of 1000 will return to the same beach 8 years later to lay eggs.

Our excited group was told to line up at a flagged rope along the beautiful beach and each person was then handed a baby turtle, having been shown how to hold them between thumb and finger. The babies flapped excitedly, anxious to get to the water, as we were allowed to name them and pose for photos and video. Then, on the signal of our guide, we released our precious babies and cheered them on as they hurried to the ocean. Dave's turtle, Thing 2, raced to the water and mine, Thing 1, followed behind as we recorded their progress.

While all 40 or so babies made it safely to the ocean, one poor soul was scooped up by a passing frigate bird, much to the horror of a little girl who witnessed the capture. As her mother tried to console her. the rest of our group headed back to the centre for a beverage and snack before being bussed back to the ship.

After a lunch aboard the Mariner, we joined our second tour of the day, a much more leasurely trip on a sailboat to Acupulco Bay. The winds were favourable and we sped under full sail to a quiet cove near an island.We anchored in ordered to let people snorkel and swim, or just enjoy the beautiful views and the Mexican sunshine. We could not resist the urge to phone family back home and say hello from our seats on the sailboat in sunny Acupulco.

  Back on the ship, we prepared to spend an evening at Chops with our new Hornblower friends from Colorado, Vicki and Woody, to celebrate Vicki's birthday. At the next table sat 88-year-old actress Carol Channing, who was onboard with the Film Festival and sang Happy Birthday to a delighted Vicki.

Tomorrow: At Sea