Miguel Serrano Ruiz
In Baja California Sur, Mexico, El Suspiro Beach becomes a nesting ground for olive ridley sea turtles between June and December. In 2025, more than 114,700 eggs were laid, yet only around one in a thousand hatchlings will survive to adulthood. Rising temperatures are disrupting sex ratios and preventing some eggs from hatching, while habitat loss, pollution, poaching, and industrial fishing increase vulnerability.
To address this, the civil association ASUPMATOMA has patrolled thirteen kilometres of coastline for over three decades. With a small team, they work nightly to locate nesting females, relocate eggs to protected hatcheries, monitor nests, and release hatchlings.
After more than 150 million years in the oceans, sea turtles now survive within a fragile balance shaped by human activity and sustained by local conservation efforts. All seven species are currently listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
Holding Life - 2025, El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Israel Oblea (25) waits to rescue eggs from an olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) on El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Due to inexperience and beach degradation, some young sea turtles fail to find a nesting site far enough from the tide. The conservationist intervenes to prevent rising waves from washing the eggs away. 2025.
Of Salt and Sand - 2025, El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico
ASUPMATOMA team members Alexa Cachú (left) and Israel Oblea (right) dig by hand to collect olive ridley sea turtle eggs from a nest on El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The eggs are relocated to protect them from predators and illegal poaching. On average, an olive ridley turtle lays 100 eggs; once finished, the mothers return to the sea and leave the hatchlings on their own. After 45 to 60 days of incubation, the eggs hatch.
Night Records - 2025, El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Deira Gordillo (31) records nesting and hatching data for Mexican environmental authorities before sleeping on El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico. During the nesting season, the team patrols every night, starting at 2:30 a.m. and finishing after sunrise. Due to the workload and lack of help, they remain isolated, leaving the site only four days per month.
The Hatchery - 2025, El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
During the day, ASUPMATOMA’s field team carries out maintenance and nest monitoring on El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico. To the left of the wooden boxes are rows of nests that have not yet hatched. This is one of two protected hatchery enclosures, each capable of holding up to 600 nests.
7. Early Survivors - 2025, El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Deira Gordillo (31) records nesting and hatching data for Mexican environmental authorities before sleeping on El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico. During the nesting season, the team patrols every night, starting at 2:30 a.m. and finishing after sunrise. Due to the workload and lack of help, they remain isolated, leaving the site only four days per month.
One in a Thousand - 2025, El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Hatchlings gather before being released into the sea on El Suspiro Beach, Baja California Sur, Mexico. At birth, sea turtle hatchlings experience a burst of energy known as a “swimming frenzy,” a biological response that helps them reach the ocean and swim afterwards. It is estimated that only one in every thousand hatchlings survives to adulthood.