A day of surfing and Olive Ridley Sea Turtle release in Todos Santos Baja California Sur, México with Joe Alani and friends. Filmed by Ira Nevius and Joe Alani. Edited by Ira Nevius. Special thanks to Tortugueros Las Playitas at www.todostortugueros.org.

I bet you’ve heard of a Sea Snake, but have you ever heard of a Sand Snake? While digging post holes with my friend Alex in the sandy dirt, we found one! A Banded Sand Snake! Chilomeniscus cinctus. So beautiful.
Internet info; Small. Yellow/orange with 24-28 brown crossbands to tail. White underside. scales in rows of 13. Divided anal plate.
Mostly nocturnal. During the heat of the day, it is usually submerged beneath the surface, emerging at night to hunt for insects, small scorpions, cockroaches, centipedes and other soft bodied critters of the like. Its Spadelike snout helps it ‘swim’ through sand. Grooves at the edges of bushes indicate its subsurface activity.

Estamos muy felizes que se regreso la Tortuga Laud despues de haber dejado su primer nido hace 10 dias. Nuestro segundo nido de Tortuga Laúd(Dermochelys coriacea) del año! Increiblamente regreso al mismo lugar en la playa por aproximamente entre 500 metros. ¿Como saben? ¿Como lo hacen? Deja un comentario se crees saber. Estamos muy contentos por que la tortuga laúd se considera En Peligro Crítico. el año pasado y no había ni un solo nido encontrado. Haz clic en los fotos por imagenes mas grandes.

We are very happy to have the Leatherback Sea Turtle return after leaving her first nest 10 days ago. Our second Leatherback SeaTurtle(Dermochelys coriacea) nest of the year! Unbelievably she came back to the same spot of the beach within about 500 meters! How do they know? How do they do it? Leave a comment if you think you know.  We are very pleased as the Leatherback is considered Critically Endangered and last year there was not a single nest encountered. Click on photos for larger images.

Check out this Western Slender Blind Snake (Leptotyphlops humilis) and a Brown Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda venatoria) I encountered in my yard the other night. Fun.

Nuestro primer nido de Tortuga Laúd(Dermochelys coriacea) del año. Estamos muy contentos por que la tortuga laúd se considera En Peligro Crítico y el año pasado y no había ni un solo nido encontrado. Tomas se dio cuenta que La Tortuga gigante dejó 2 peces Remora(Remora brachyptera) tirados en la arena. Las salvamos lanzandolas de nuevo al agua. Tal vez se encuentran a su amigo de nuevo, o otro con quien se peude pedir rité …. Un tiburón tigre tal vez! Haga clic en los fotos.
Our first Leatherback SeaTurtle(Dermochelys coriacea) nest of the year. We are very pleased as the Leatherback is considered Critically Endangered and last year there was not a single nest encountered. Tomas realized that the giant Leatherback left 2 Remora fish(Remora brachyptera) high and dry in the sand. We saved them by tossing them back in the water. Maybe they will find their friend again, or another host to hitch a ride on…. A Tiger Shark perhaps!

Hey all,
I helped my friend Sergio save a Common Kingsnake from being trapped in his water tank. Then we relocated it out into his field.
It seemed very happy to be out of that cold water!
Here are some Wiki Facts.
The Common Kingsnake(Lampropeltis getula) is a harmless colubrid species found in the United States and Mexico. Adult specimens are 39-78 inches (98.5–197 cm) in length. Specimens up to 82 inches (208.2 cm) have been recorded.The biggest one was measured 8.5 feet long. They eat snakes, including venomous snakes, being immune to their venoms. They also eat amphibians, turtle eggs, lizards, and small mammals, which they kill by constriction. Long a favorite among collectors, they do well in captivity, living for up to 25 years or more.

Wellp, Watch the video. If you do grab a Scorpion like this… DO NOT LET GO WHEN IT REACHES UP TO PINCHE YOU. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL BE STUNG. Minor numbing pain. way better then a Bee sting. Do not attempt ever, Can be mortal to kids and alergics. Ira

The other night while driving North of Todos Santos on my way to do some volunteer work for Tortugueros Las Playitas, I ran into this beautiful Baja California Rattlesnake(Crotalus Enyo). I got some vid but was a bit sketched since I have been bitten before. On the finger because i was messing around. Thought I was as cool as Steve Irwin. Nope, Got bit By a juvenile, resulting in near death and a week in the hospital experience! I still like them and think they are an awesome animal. Ira

I have been working with “Tortugueros Las Playitas A.C.”, a non profit organization aimed at protecting and conserving the environment of Baja California Sur with a special emphasis on Endangered Sea Turtle population recovery, habitat protection, and environmental education in Todos Santos, Mexico. We run nightly patrols up and down the beaches relocating nests to a protected incubation area. The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle nests during these summer months and this season we now have about 50 nests. A few nights ago we made a great rescue relocating a nest of 130 eggs which would have been eroded away by a big south swell which brought waves of 12 feet coinciding with a high tide the past few days. One night there was a nest which had already been 1/3rd eaten by a coyote!! The Coyotes are huge threat to the new nests. Last night we saw 7 Turtles and rescued 4 nests. The last nest was layed at 7 am!!! Very rare as it was already light. It made for a good photo and video too. Video will be posted around the 10th of September. Thats when the first nest we relocated this summer will be released and so included into the video. Ira