Mexico Is Using Drones To Protect Sea Turtle Nests

Plants and Animals





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Freshly laid turtle eggs in a nest. Matt Jeppson/Shutterstock

Mexican officials recently announced they will be using drones to help curb the illegal poaching of protected turtles and their eggs on popular nesting beaches.

Olive ridley sea turtles flood to La Escobilla and Morro Ayuta beaches in Oaxaca state to make nests and lay their eggs. But with an estimated 0.02 to 0.2% of the 10,000 hatched turtles on the beaches actually reaching maturity, new measures are being put in place to stop the threat of poaching.