Contents:1. The Olive Ridley Turtle on Monterrico Beach
2. The spawning and the turtle’s birth, a majestic spectacle
3. Campaign to save the sea turtle
4. Nicaragua obtains export license for shrimps
5. Nicaragua uses trackers on turtles
6. The sea turtles in Costa Rica It is a brisk, crystal clear morning here in Antigua Guatemala. As I look out over the Calle del Arco, the 16th century arch spectacularly frames massive Agua Volcano. But that is another story! What I really want to tell you about is something that happened a few weeks ago. Monterrico - September 15th, 2000 - 11.30am:
Last night the near-full moon was enormous, beach palms dancing in its brilliant light. This morning, classical Pacific waves are rolling in; warm winds from the sea meeting lively sounds of Salsa music from the restaurant at the Hotel Kaiman. The beaches and surfs are thronged with frolicking children and festive holidaymakers; many with ice cold Gallo in hand. It is our Independence Day long weekend. Hey, What’s that out there in the surf? It’s getting closer! Well, I’ll be darned. It’s a Olive Ridley sea turtle coming ashore in broad daylight!! Never have I seen anything like this! As if the most natural thing on earth, she waddles up the beach, through groups of people and, right in front of the restaurant, uses her powerful fins to scoop out a large depression in the black volcanic sand. The crowd quickly surrounds her and accompanied by oohs, ahs and clicking cameras, Señora Ridley lays about 70 eggs in her hastily prepared nest. This done, she flips warm sand over her precious deposit and waddles back into the sea. In an instant she is gone. Successful end to an emergency delivery, which will long be remembered by those who cheered her on. Monterrico, on Guatemala’s south Pacific coast, is no stranger to the Olive Ridley and Leatherback sea turtles who always come back to their place of birth to lay their eggs three times each year, between July and December. But they usually come ashore on deserted stretches of beach, on moon lit nights, only to have their eggs plundered and sold as a native delicacy. For 22 years conservationists at the desperately underfunded Monterrico Nature Reserve have been recovering about 20% of each clutch, allowing them to hatch naturally at their Center and lovingly releasing 2 day old babies into the sea. The true attrition rate (believed by local specialists to be about 40%) is not known but proof of the success of the project is seen in the increasing number and varying ages of the females who come ashore each year. To promote and raise funds for the continued support of the sea turtle, green iguana and caiman crocodile projects of Monterrico Beach, visitors are encouraged to physically participate in their collection and release programs. Donating Q10 (less than $1.50) to adopt and release their very own baby, an “adoption fee” proudly matched by Adventure Travel for each and every tour sold to this tropical paradise. (Overnight inclusive tours from Antigua or Guatemala City begin at US$56). PS: Gallo is Guatemalan for beer! 
The massive arrival of the Olive Ridley turtle to spawn on the beaches of Nicaragua is a worthy spectacle to see. This phenomenon occurs only upon some beaches in the world. On the American continent it’s possible to experience among others on the beaches of Bocas del Toro, Panama, Ostional - Nancite, Costa Rica, Chacocente and La Flor, Nicaragua and Monterrico, Guatemala. The Olive Ridley turtle is the smallest of the sea turtles. They reach a weight of some 45ks and they can live to be 60 years. The mysterious life of these marine creatures and its strange body reminds us of the dinosaurs’ era. Their mysticism wakes up curiosity and converts her into a target for those that do not conform to enjoy their presence on the beaches, but has a desire to taste the meat and eggs. Many ecologists groups fight for their protection and preservation. The sea turtles are of migratory spirit, but they return to spawn upon the place where they were born, thus being the one and only time that they have contact with firm ground. Otherwise they live out in the sea. The males pass all the life at sea. According to studies the turtle copulate with any male, including their own brothers. Between six and seven times per year from July to January some 30 thousand Olive Ridley turtles approach the beaches of La Flor and some 40 thousand to the beaches of Chacocente. Each turtle lays between 90 and 120 eggs. After 45 to 60 days the baby turtles are born. It is impressive to see as these tiny beings fight from the start of their lives to survive. It is an indescribable sensation to be woken up at full moon night by the sea, with small turtles all over the body. To see the movement of thousands of baby turtles that rise out of every millimeter of sand along hundred of meters of beach. It is an interminable procession, a mixture of myth and magic. It is difficult for the brain to understand how those small bodies can get to reach such a size and gigantic weight. Although studies reveal that out of thousand eggs survive six turtles, and one or two becomes adult. To protect and preserve these species in Nicaragua they have seasons in which the extraction of eggs from the nests is forbidden. At present there is an agreement between the Ministry of Natural Resources and the settlers of the nearby communities to the beaches where the turtles arrive. During the seven months of the forbidden season the ministry must deliver part of the eggs to the settlers in exchange for that they abstain from extracting them on their own account, and that they cooperate with the army in the vigilance of the spawning of the turtle. It is a complex situation, because on the one hand is at stake the protection of these important animals and at the other hand, to sell the meat and the turtle’s eggs is the principal source of income for the inhabitants of the zone. This program has been beneficial. A journey to La Flor or Chacocente is an experience that you do not forget. Even the geography of the place has something virgin, mystic and wild to it. You have to come prepared to enter in a world that reminds us of an epoch far from the modern and the technical. It is a true encounter with nature and its mysteries. During many years Nicaragua’s environmental community has promoted an active education campaign, to save the domestic sea turtles. Many Green turtles die asphyxiated in the nets of the fishers. Each year thousands of turtles are hunted for their meat. Also the eggs are very liked and it’s one reason why the Olive Ridley and Green turtles are in danger of extinction. One of the objectives of the campaign is to make the Government and the population aware of the need to protect the turtle. Among others the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Education, the Mayor’s office and the Army participates in the campaign. In April this year Nicaragua was granted certification to export shrimp to the USA. This certificate is only granted the countries that pass the supervision of the United States to verify the utilization of devices to protect the sea turtles. These devices are exits in the nets of the shrimp fishing boats that permits the turtle that enter to escape. This disposition is an answer of the Government of the United States to the requirements from the environmental groups. According to North American authorities, Nicaragua was the first country to obey in time and form with the requirements to obtain the certification. Other Latin American countries that obtained the certificate were Argentine, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Honduras was the only Central American country that did not get a certificate this year, nor last year. The certificate will permit Nicaragua to export shrimps to the US for an amount of 50 million of dollars per year. The past month of August they placed transmitters on three Hawksbill turtles in the Cayos Perlas, Nicaragua. This modern technology is used for the first time in Nicaragua. They expect to be able to know more about the habitat, the nutrition, reproduction and life of these mystic sea inhabitants. The obtained information in the study of these three marine beings will be used in the fight for the protection and prevention of the extinction of the sea turtles. Belize and Costa Rica also use trackers to study the turtle’s life. Thanks to the obtained information it is known that a sea turtle is able to travel all over the Caribbean Sea.
Tortuguero National Park is located on the Caribbean coast, approximately 80km northeast of the city of Limón. The total area is 18.946 ha in the terrestrial part and 52.265 in the marine part. It is the most important area of the occidental part of the Caribbean, for the spawning of the Green turtle during the months of July to September. Other species that spawn on the beach is the Leatherback and the Hawksbill. The Green turtle’s spawning is one of the more interesting natural phenomena. This process is considered the period most critical of the life cycle of the turtle. The females come to the beaches in great numbers and in periods more or less fixed. These concentrations and the difficulty to displace on the sand, make her very vulnerable to man and other predators. The process begins with the migrations of the turtle to areas without presence of their foodstuff in big extensions. The mating takes place in front of the coast and a little while later the female appears on the beach where she excavates the nest for the eggs, an event that generally occurs during the night. To achieve it she crawls up the beach to find the appropriate place, where the high water doesn’t reach, and gets ready to prepare the nest utilizing the posterior fins as shovel. From the moment leaving sea until she begins to deposit the eggs, the turtle may not feel bothered or threatened. Because she will return to sea and then regrettably this one will be a lost brood. When the nest has a depth of some 50cm, she begins to deposit about 100 eggs. Once the task is finished, the turtle turns to cover the nest utilizing practically all her body, trying to camouflage it throwing sand all over the area, balancing her body on the beach and then returns to sea. In the lapse of two months the sun will incubate the eggs. When the little turtles begins to come out of the eggs, they fight its way to the surface of the nest. There they await the night or early morning to abandon the nest and to initiate their race toward the sea, where they arrive instinctively for being the more brilliant place of the horizon. The national wildlife refuge Ostional became a reality to protect important nestling areas of Kemp’s Ridley turtles, Leatherback and occasionally, Green turtle. A good part of the world population of the Kemp’s Ridley turtle spawns in Ostional. They direct to a narrow sandy belt of 900m where they take the beach in big arrivals of 4 to 8 days of duration. Principally between July and December, but they can arrive in solitaire or in little groups all along the year. The marine national park Las Baulas in Guanacaste includes 445 ha extension of beaches, forests and mangroves by the shoreline of the peninsula of Nicoya. It was crated to protect the wildlife species in danger of extinction, specially the Leatherback, the biggest turtle in the world. In the sands of Playa Grande the Leatherback turtle spawns, it can measure two and a half meters and weigh around 700 kilos. Unlike other turtles this species does not possess a hard shell, instead it has a black skin. It is nomadic par excellence and the favorite food is the poisonous jellyfish. The Leatherback, just like the other sea turtles, spends their lives in the waters of the tropical and temperate seas, approaching shore only when the females spawn. The Leatherback takes the beach from November to April and digs her nest meter deep. She spawns, covers it with sand and returns to sea again. After 60 to 90 days the baby turtles are born, they immediately head for the water. In this difficult path, of just 70 m, they are an easy prey for crabs, sea birds and various mammals, therefore only some of them survive. Occasionally Kemp’s Ridley turtle comes to spawn at Playa Grande, species that also nests in the national parks Santa Rosa and Corcovado. More than 80.000 turtles are captured illegally every year in the coasts of Central America. The turtles are threatened each time they nest on the coasts of Central America. The illegal hunting and the incidental fishing of the different species occur in all of the 7 countries, despite the fact that there are regulations and agreements between the countries, they are not obeyed. In Costa Rica the rational use of the resource is allowed in two cases. The first is on Playa Ostional where they develop a project of gathering of eggs. The plan regulates the utilization of the eggs that will be lost by natural conditions. Natives and the development association of Ostional have permission by law. This is one of few good examples of projects in the sustainable development, where the human population as well as the turtle has benefited. Another case is in the provinces of Limón, where they have a yearly capture quota of 1.800 Green turtles. Besides these two cases, the utilization of any product of turtles is forbidden in Costa Rica. The Worldwide Wildlife Foundation, WWF, gives a call to the governments to take the necessary measures to reduce the high numbers of illegal fishing and incidental capture. On the other hand, WWF ask media and non-governmental organizations all over the world, to start campaigns and education to revert the problems of the illegal hunting and consumption of the sea turtle meat.
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