AMA Mexico

Google Earth is an amazing software tool, available free from Google. In addition to being able to virtually fly around the world, people can also create “guided tours” (saved in “KMZ files”) and add information-such as all the turtle nests laid on the beaches of Nuevo Vallarta in a season. That’s what we have done, and share with you here. If you do not already have Google Earth installed on your computer, you will need to do so (click the link above) before you can view the KMZ files below.

Map of Olive Ridley Nesting Sites on Nuevo Vallarta Beaches, Nayarit, Mexico, 2009

Rolando Pantoja, AMA Mexico researcher

The GIS Nesting Site and Habitat Map presented here was developed from GPS data and placed over a Google earth map of the beaches on the Bay of Banderas from the mouth of the River Ameca (about mid point of the Bay) northward to the town of Bucerias, a distance of approximately eight and one half miles.  It is part of the AMA Mexico A.C. “GIS Sea Turtle Nesting Site and Habitat Research Project.” The beaches all lie within the state of Nayarit.

The research is based on a GPS survey done during the month of July (one of the area’s high nesting months) in 2009. The nests are those of the endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys Olivaceas).It is a complete record based on GPS data gathered daily on night patrols.  The map depicts the nesting sites, false nests, stolen nests, and sites where dead (drowned) adult turtles were found during the study. The study was conducted by AMA Mexico researcher Rolando Pantoja.

The analysis of the data is presented with other research projects presented on this site and is a contribution to the ongoing AMA Mexico GIS Sea Turtle Nesting Site and Habitat Research Project. The research project is carried out in collaboration with CONANP (Mexico’s National Commission for the Protection of Natural Areas) and the biologists at the Nuevo Vallarta Sea Turtle Preserve.

See the Google Earth KMZ file of Rolando’s 2009 research data.