Along the beaches of Progreso, natural flora and fauna have rebounded while the number of human visitors has shrunk. This is not a coincidence.
Dune shrubs were commonly uprooted to allow more space for people to frolic on the beach, but now native plants have been allowed to sprout up and spread. And more sea turtles have been allowed to spawn while dolphins and even manta rays have been spotted by caretakers of unoccupied beach houses.
Birds have become more aggressive hunting for food since they don’t have tourists and fishermen to feed them for the time being. Coronavirus contingencies have forced officials to close the beaches to visitors and vacationers have been blocked from entering the fishing villages that used to welcome them.
Seamen from Progreso told Mileneo Novedades that the presence of fish is increasingly evident. Until a few decades ago it was normal to see large schools of various species, which gradually moved away due to the presence of bathers and watercraft. Now nature is reasserting itself.
Stock is so plentiful, that for the first time in years fishermen can cast their lines just a few meters from the shoreline and catch enough to sell and to feed their families.
Source: Sipse
