Newsletter December 2013 2013 Sea Turtle Nesting Season December marks the beginning of slow turtle season in the Osa Peninsula. It s the end of Olive Ridley nesting season and only the very beginning of Green sea turtle season. Track sighting on our patrol beaches, Pejeperro and Piro, have been rare, and our hatchery is empty and excavated. This month has been a time for family and friends and rounding out all the collected data. FUN-FACT: The Olive Ridley has one of the most extraordinary nesting behaviors in the world, known as an arribada. Arribada means arrival by sea in Spanish. Hundreds of female turtles gather offshore and all at once come ashore to nest. This is a protection in numbers survival strategy, and scientists have not yet figured out what exactly triggers this behavior.
Cleaning out the Nests The results are in for turtle sightings and track records on our beaches. This year we had 7 tagged returning turtles on Pejeperro Beach and tagged a total of 136 new turtles between both beaches. Almost all of the health assessments for sighted turtles were very good, with only one turtle with fibropapillomus and two with barnacles. Even shell, flipper, and skin wounds were very rarely recorded. However, more shell damage was seen on Piro beach, which could indicate more boat activity off shore near that beach. It was quite a successful first year of our sea turtle hatchery. Of all the nests moved this year, containing thousands of sea turtle eggs, 92.6% of them hatched successfully! Our reason for moving the nests was due to poor location. While our beaches of Piro and Pejeperro are prime location for turtles to lay their nests, there is a river that runs from the lagoon to the ocean. If the mother turtle lays her nests too close to this river, the water level can rise and collapse the nest and all the eggs would be lost. For this reason, we will move a nest to the hatchery. The staff and volunteers always take extra care while moving a nest, and we will simulate an environment as similar as possible to the original nest. The depth and width of the nest is measured, sand from the original nest lines the transport bucket, as well as the new nest. If the nest was laid in the shade of the vegetation or the sun, our hatchery can accommodate either. This strategy seems to have worked very well so far, and our hopes are high for 2014! End of the Year Results As expected, the most commonly sighted turtle was the Olive Ridley (LO), but the Green (CM) takes a close second. The Hawksbills (EI) are a new addition to our sightings recorded this year, but no Leatherback (DC) tracks or turtles were recorded. As the graph shows, this was not the best year for our turtles and our sightings records have been slowly decreasing. The reason for this is unknown, but we hope with more data collection in 2014 we can start to solve the problems and the turtle population can rebound. 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 CM LO EI
Peace on Earth No doubt that our little corner of Costa Rica, the Osa Peninsula, is a slice of paradise. Just about as peaceful and serene as possible, some great stories come out of this place. In a world full of sad stories from the media, once in a while a great story is told. A story that brings back a glimmer of hope for a world that seems pretty dim sometimes. All you have to do is listen and look around and one can easily realize the mystic atmosphere that this place has to offer. Where the rainforest meets the sea is how the Osa is often described, and it is exactly that. It is one of the last pristine wild places on Earth, untouched by humans. This is why we at Osa Conservation are working so hard to save this little piece of land in such a big world. The community has joined in and it seems most people living in the Osa are in the same mind-set: to preserve the planet so future generations can one day see its beauty as well. However, things weren t always this way. About 30 or 40 years ago, it was common for folks to make their living off of hunting the animals in the wild and harvesting the wood that the forest had to offer. Animals and eggs being hunted and harvested included jaguars and turtles. The reason for this was not malignance; it was simply a way of life. If jaguars were attacking livestock, the farmer would protect his herd. Turtles and turtle eggs are an easy harvest and very nutritious for a family without any money, having to hunt for survival. Today, some of the people that have lived in the Osa for their whole lives, and used to hunt the animals we now consider endangered, are some of the best conservation advocates we have with Osa Conservation. They know the land, they know the animals, and they are fully willing to help. In developing countries like Costa Rica, the citizens often don t understand the meaning of the word conservation. Once it is explained to them that scientists and researchers are only trying to preserve the animals they have known to make their livelihood off of, the locals become part the solution. The government has also been stepping forward and realizing that the world and its life are in trouble. The Endangered Species Act recently posted their top 10 success stories after 40 years since Congress passed the act. The Green sea turtle made the list! There were only 50 nests sightings on one of Florida s beaches in 1990, to over 10,000 nests in 2013! The steadily recovering populations of many species, including the Green turtle, is a sign of hope for our future generations, that they will one day be able to see a magnificent sea turtle emerge from the ocean to entrust her nest to mother nature. Or to see a nest of hatchlings emerge from the sand in an explosion, making their way to ocean, only based on instinct passed down from their ancestors that precede them by thousands of years. These are the miracles we work hard to preserve and are so important for the future people of the world to see. This is priority- save the planet. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world. -Anne Frank References: http://www.nationofchange.org/10-success-stories-thanks-endangered-species-act- 1386515649
Volunteer Testimonials Instead of the usual Meet our Participants section, the volunteers from throughout the whole year were kind enough to share their favorite memories One, I was completely stunned while brushing my teeth when a group of squirrel monkeys just decided to chill in the tree outside our cabin bathroom. It was the coolest thing. Second, I think I saw more species of animals in my week of volunteering than any other week. And third, a favorite memory was when during a night watch on Piro, after a long hike on the beach taking a quick break to chow down our PB&J sandwiches and watch the bioluminescence in the waves. Frances Forbes, HI I had such an amazing experience, the best I can do is narrow it down to two of my favourite memories: seeing my first Olive Ridley laying eggs and finishing her nest on Pejeperro. And, going into the hatchery to do temperature readings and discovering that our one nest of baby Green's had hatched! Okay three: our last patrol at Piro - which was a beautiful, starry night - watching an Olive Ridley walk back into the ocean. -Colleen Cotter, Ottawa, Canada My favorite Osa Memory was getting to know everybody because there is a broad range of people with a lot of stories to tell. Also, learning about the wildlife on hikes and seeing the different animals and plants. -Jeremy Regan, NY My favorite memory was definitely the first morning patrol on Piro Beach. Uncovering a nest of Olive Ridley hatchlings and helping them make their way to the ocean is something I ll never forget. Krista Kurisaki, CA
Volunteer Testimonials Continued "My favorite memory from volunteering with the sea turtle rescue and research program at Osa Conservation was when we found a nest of olive ridley sea turtle hatchlings, and were able to help release them out to sea. It was a beautiful and once-in-a lifetime experience that I will never forget, and will always hold dear to my heart. Pura vida!"- Alisa Wang, AZ My favorite intern memory was when I was on a morning patrol and from a distance we saw many hawks and vultures, we then ran up to them to scare them away so that the turtle hatchlings could get to the sea. It was my first time seeing hatchlings and was an amazing feeling! Courtney Armsey, OH Mine would be sitting on the beach and watching the bioluminescence in the waves on out night patrol at Peje. Or taking a nap in the hammock and waking up to find a toucan in the tree right next to me. Or saving that Ridley turtle from the lagoon and carrying it through the grass and shrubs barefoot over the sand dune and releasing it back into the ocean.- Beth Deacy, FL You never know what you will see on patrol or excavations, or even just hanging out in the hammock. Wonderful experience -- hope to come back! -Lauren Swift, WA I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do. -Helen Keller
Thanks For Your Help This year the month of August (our busiest month!) we did not have a newsletter. Staff shuffles and lots of turtles is the reason, but it s about time some of those volunteers also received recognition. Thank you to those volunteers from August and December: Katharine Clukey Rachel Mitchell Courtney Armsey Stephanie Brisson Stephanie Gussin Trysta Bastien Ayla Anderson Alisa Wang Krista Kurisaki Beth Deacy Frances Forbes Lindsay Metz Caitlin Bergman Nicholas Medina Tim Treuer http://www.bluebison.net/content/category/turtles/ Participants Articles: Lindsay Metz Design Layout: Wanda von Bremen Pictures: Alonso Sanchez, Lindsay Metz, Tim Schuld, Beth Deacy, Alisa Wang