Sept. 1 (UPI) — More than 3,000 baby sea turtles were released into the Gulf of Mexico from a beach in northern Veracruz after months of nighttime patrols to rescue and protect nests threatened by human activity and other risks, conservationists said.

Fundación Yépez released between 3,200 and 3,500 hatchlings Sunday at El Raudal, in the municipality of Nautla, after relocating eggs from nests considered at risk and protecting them until they hatched.Video released by the organization showed hundreds of tiny turtles moving across the sand toward the water as conservation workers and residents watched.

The release marked the culmination of months of overnight patrols along the Veracruz coast to locate nests and move eggs from vulnerable areas. Fundación Yépez has worked to protect sea turtles in the region for 59 years.

“They were moved as eggs, nests in risk areas that today are being returned to the ocean as turtles,” a representative of the organization said in the video.

Conservationists said protecting the nests has sometimes brought them into conflict with tourists who approach nesting turtles or interfere with protected areas.

The organization described months of sleepless nights and beach patrols, including disputes with visitors, before the hatchlings could finally be released.

The concerns intensified in August after an adult female green sea turtle was found dead on a beach in Nautla with her eggs still inside.

Ricardo Yépez, a representative of Fundación Yépez, said at the time that inappropriate human interaction could have contributed to the turtle’s death and urged visitors not to disturb animals arriving on the beach to nest according to reports by La Jornada. The cause of death was not officially established.

Yépez has also reported instances of visitors approaching nesting turtles for photographs and even climbing onto their shells, behavior he said can prevent the animals from completing the nesting process.

Veracruz is an important nesting and migration area for sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. Five of the world’s seven sea turtle species use the state’s coastline to nest, feed or migrate, according to the Veracruz Center for Sea Turtle Research and Conservation.

The center oversees 9.6 miles of coastline in Nautla and neighboring Vega de Alatorre, where green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are particularly important. Vega de Alatorre averages about 10,000 nests annually and could represent the largest nesting area in Veracruz and possibly the entire Gulf of Mexico, state environmental authorities said.

Elsewhere in northern Veracruz, conservation efforts have produced thousands more hatchlings this summer.

The National Commission of Natural Protected Areas said workers and 14 community technicians released 2,505 green, Kemp’s ridley and hawksbill sea turtle hatchlings during the annual Sea Turtle Festival at the Playas del Totonacapan Sanctuary from July 31 through Aug. 2. About 3,855 people attended conservation activities during the three-day event.

The federal agency released another 1,207 Kemp’s ridley hatchlings Aug. 18 as it marked the end of the species’ 2026 nesting season at the sanctuary.

In 2025, conservation workers recorded 6,148 nests in the Nautla-Vega de Alatorre area and released more than 54,000 hatchlings from protected incubation enclosures, according to Veracruz environmental authorities.