Costa Rica - Cano Palma - One sHELL of a night!

(picture used from Wikipedia)

I have been at Estacion Biologica Cano Palma for a week and every day I have been learning about the processes involved in protecting and monitoring the turtles that arrive on the Caribbean Coast to lay their eggs. For the turtles this seems a straight forward task but is fraught with dangers created by human poaching activities.

The poaching comes in two main forms:-

Eggs - New eggs that are laid are stolen and sold for consumption in homes and restaurants. It is a myth that the poachers only steal a percentage of the eggs leaving the remainder to hatch, this only happens in some situations and maybe more because they were scared off whilst poaching the nest.

Turtle meat – A turtle is turned over and slowly dies suffocating as its lungs collapse under the pressure of its own body weight pressing the lungs against its outer shell. The meat is then sold in the same way explained above.

Every evening a team of three leaves the station under the cover of darkness to patrol the beaches in an attempt to prevent such occurrences. This is a difficult task with the odds in favour of the many poaches verses the few teams that can patrol.

The staff at Cano Palma co-ordinate and participate in this process in the knowledge than they can make a difference in the long term. The task is generally a thankless one with personal sacrifices made by each individual.

Last night myself and Marvin were part of one such team that had spent the night covering nests and hiding tracks that turtles make and leave behind. The team was on its way back to the base when Jimena spotted a long track from the sea to the cover of the trees.

What she found at the top of the track was a disturbing scene, a large Green turtle had been turned onto its back and left to die by poachers. The turtle was clearly distressed but there was a plan which had to be followed precisely to save the life of this magnificent creature.

The turtle was carefully turned over and then after re-gaining its composure started the long journey back to the sea. This time there would be no interference from poachers as we monitored every step of this journey. The turtle entered the water some forty five minutes later extended its head in our direction and disappeared into the sea.

A happy ending on this occasion but this is not always the case! Prevention of these incidents is a simple one if the demand for turtle eggs and meat diminishes then the supply dries up and these wonders of the world will once again thrive and prosper!