De Sal y Arena
The future of sea turtles in human hands.
Doc Film
(seeking distribution)
Photo Series
(currently exhibited)
In Baja California Sur, Mexico, between June and December, El Suspiro Beach becomes a nesting ground for the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). In 2025, more than 114.700 eggs were laid in the sand. Yet the olive ridley shares a critical reality with most sea turtle species: it is estimated that only one in every thousand hatchlings will survive to adulthood, the stage required to reproduce and ensure the continuity of the species.
Survival begins beneath the sand, inside the eggs. Rising temperatures linked to global warming are causing severe imbalances in sex ratios and, in many cases, preventing hatchlings from being born. Coastal habitat degradation, pollution, illegal poaching, and industrial fishing further increase the vulnerability of sea turtles.
To confront this scenario, the civil association ASUPMATOMA has been patrolling thirteen kilometers of coastline for more than three decades. This local, non-profit organization works with a field team that rarely exceeds five people. Their work is constant and physically demanding: patrolling every night to locate nesting females, relocating eggs to protected hatcheries, monitoring nests and releasing hatchlings at the right time.
After more than 150 million years in the oceans, sea turtles now survive within a fragile balance affected by human activity and sustained by the commitment of a few. All seven species of sea turtles are currently listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
El Suspiro beach, Baja California Sur. September - October 2025. Miguel SR.
