Little is known about the first few years in sea turtles' lives. Young loggerheads from X'cacel beach have been seen as far away as the Azores Islands, off West Africa. After maturity the females return to their natal beaches to mate and lay eggs. Now Mexico's three most important nesting beaches for loggerhead and green sea turtles are slated for tourist development. In spite of federal laws and a regional management plan that require turtle protection, the state government of Quintana Roo sold the beaches to hotel developers.
Construction is advanced at two of the three sites.
Turtles that nest at X'cacel carry more than 20 percent of the genetic diversity of their species in the Atlantic. Turtles have been successfully protected at X'cacel for the past decade. To avoid a public outcry, the governor has prohibited construction at X'cacel within the first 100 meters from the sea. Research shows that bright lights and human activity on the beach discourage nesting females. Whole nests of up to 200 eggs can be destroyed by fungus if just one egg is pierced by a beach umbrella.