Saving Marine Turtles in Honduras’ Gulf of Fonseca

Punta Raton, a small coastal town in southern Honduras’ Gulf of Fonseca, lies 190 kilometers south of Tegucigalpa. Though difficult to get to due to the current road conditions, this beautiful corner of the Honduran South Pacific has been all but completely neglected by local authorities, the government and politicians who seemingly only remember its poor fishermen when they need they votes.

Raton, known for its beautiful, ample beaches bathed by the warm currents of the Pacific, the dark coffee-colored sand on its flat, prolonged coasts are home to unique marine turtles called Turtles of the Gulf, also known as Golfinas.

Every year, at the same time, this beautiful turtle species fulfills its natural reproductive mandate to secure its survival. Mysteriously, these creatures arrive on the shores of Raton after several decades, traveling back to the same place they were born thirty years ago. They are inexplicably drawn to and guided by instincts that pull them to a destination, the trip fraught with dangerous predators and enemies.

The mystery of the marine turtles cannot be explained by the hundreds of students and scientists who come to witness their arrival, monitored by sophisticated satellites and navigation equipment. The golfinas swim tirelessly, without pause, taking advantage of the jet stream and ocean currents until they arrive at the exact sandy beach they left decades before. They return to lay eggs to allow a new generation to begin the same lifetime journey, a sacred ritual. Their livelihoods are more threatened than ever, their existence at serious risk of extinction.

But in Punta Raton, these turtles have to two friends, Herminio Carmona and Eleuterio Perdomo, also known as Teyo. These two special Hondurans are charged with protecting the golfina turtles, without payment and are solely motivated to protect them. They maintain the beaches, watch over the eggs until they hatch and continue to monitor their well-being until the fragile newborns eventually swim away. As the two watch the young turtles begin their journey, they wish them luck during their dangerous passage through the oceans.

Herminio commented to HTW that he fell in love with the golfinas when he was very young, as he maintains they are full of mystery and kindness. He is also convinced that their existence and sojourn to Raton could mean an economic boost to this economically needy community. Herminio believes that with the advent and growing popularity of eco-tourism, interested travelers could make Punta Raton a worthy international destination with an environmental/ecological focus.

According to scientific statistics, the marine turtles are gradually disappearing; the rate of survival to adulthood is now 1%, the rest die in unfruitful attempts to return to the beach where they were once born.

Every year, from the end of August until the end of November, the Golfinas arrive at the beaches of Punta Raton and deposit about three hundred eggs in three different turns. Then Herminio and Teyo, along with other volunteers, rescue the eggs and place them in a safe breeding ground, prepared inside a refuge for the protection of marine turtles, established by the Committee of Protection of the Turtle of the Gulf, (COPROTOGOLF), and formed by neighbors of the community.

This year alone they have released about 18,000 tortuguitas (‘little turtles’ in Spanish), a number that makes Herminio and Teyo proud, because it reflects a proportional growth in comparison to last year’s number. It has provided the two with optimistic satisfaction and the pleasure of being a part of preserving the peculiar life and habits of this mysterious turtle, the golfina.