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Marine Turtle Newsletter 21:7-8, © 1982

Crying "Wolf" at La Escobilla

J. Frazier
Department of Zoological Research, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20008, U.S.A.

There is still confusion over the situation at La Escobilla, Mexico's last major arribada (massed nesting) beach. In 1979 the IUCN Bulletin stated "There was no arribada in 1978," and my previous criticism of this statement (Frazier, J., 1981, Marine Turtle Newsletter,.18:4-5) was not sufficiently explicit, since some readers have asked for more details.

Apparently no Mexican specialist was consulted about arribada in 1978 (Márquez, pers. comm.; Peñaflores, pers. comm.) and I have never seen corroboration of the IUCN's statement. To the contrary, there are data refuting the claim in the Bulletin. For example, Calderón and González (1981, Las Arribazones para Reproducción de la Tortuga Golfina-Lepidochelys olivacea-(Eschscholtz, 1829) en la Playa de la Escobilla, Oax., en el Pacífico, unpublished thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Iztacala, 63 pp + 8 figs.) reported on Escobilla from 1970 to 1980 showing that despite intense exploitation, there has not been a diminution in arribadas, but an increase:

Year of 1900:	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81
No. of Arribadas:	3	?	?	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	4	5

Peñaflores, who has been monitoring this beach since 1974, confirmed these data and added the 1981 value (pers. comm.). This however, says nothing about the numbers of turtles nesting annually, and there is tremendous concern, among Mexicans and other nationals, that this last economically viable population is doomed to overexploitation.

The false statement in question not only discredits the article in which it appeared (which dealt with the critical issue of overexploitation), but leaves biologists, particularly in Mexico, doubting the credibility of the organization responsible for the statement. Dramatization is an effective motivator, but this tactic alienates local people and those knowledgeable about the issues and, in the long run, it is counterproductive. I have elsewhere commented on another false claim regarding sea turtles (Frazier, J., 1980, Environmental Conservation, 7:239-240), and this is a common and serious problem in conservation of natural resources, not just marine turtles (see also Simon, J.L., 1980, Science, 208:1431-1437). Rational management of natural resources is best served by accurate rational statements.