Positive News US is a free, not for profit newspaper published four times a year in Ithaca, NY. We report on successful projects around the world in the areas of sustainability, social equality, education and happiness, with a clear message that "another world is possible."
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Protecting Turtles |
Photo: Leatherback hatchling © ANAI
by Becca Harber
Every year, giant leatherback turtles return to the eight mile Caribbean beach in southern Costa Rica to lay their eggs. Hailing from the dinosaur era, leatherbacks, averaging five feet in length, are an endangered species.
They range through all oceans, from sub-Arctic to southern extremes of all continents, sometimes diving as deep as a kilometer to feed on jellyfish. The Sea Turtle Conservation Program (Asociacion ANAI) is one of various projects devoted to the turtles' protection and has resulted in a decline of turtle egg poaching from an estimated 90% in the early 1980's before ANAI began, to 2%.
Each year some 450 international volunteers protect turtles during the March to July nesting season. Under direction of turtle researchers, volunteers patrol the beach at night deterring predators and human poachers. They monitor encountered turtles, build protected egg hatcheries and guard hatchlings as they make their way across the sand to the sea.
When asked about her volunteer experience, one woman expressed how moving it was to watch a great turtle silently dig her nest hole in the moonlight with her back flippers, then drop her eggs, gradually cover the hole area with sand, and flipper herself across the beach to merge with the waves and disappear. "An ancient scene," she said. " Indications are that these turtles have been returning to this or other beaches for millions of years. I am fortunate to be able to watch and help protect them."
Though community egg income is gone, local residents now benefit from providing volunteers with rooms, meals and guiding services to visit the surrounding Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge.
For information or to make a donation, contact:
Website: www.anaicr.org
Every year, giant leatherback turtles return to the eight mile Caribbean beach in southern Costa Rica to lay their eggs. Hailing from the dinosaur era, leatherbacks, averaging five feet in length, are an endangered species.
They range through all oceans, from sub-Arctic to southern extremes of all continents, sometimes diving as deep as a kilometer to feed on jellyfish. The Sea Turtle Conservation Program (Asociacion ANAI) is one of various projects devoted to the turtles' protection and has resulted in a decline of turtle egg poaching from an estimated 90% in the early 1980's before ANAI began, to 2%.
Each year some 450 international volunteers protect turtles during the March to July nesting season. Under direction of turtle researchers, volunteers patrol the beach at night deterring predators and human poachers. They monitor encountered turtles, build protected egg hatcheries and guard hatchlings as they make their way across the sand to the sea.
When asked about her volunteer experience, one woman expressed how moving it was to watch a great turtle silently dig her nest hole in the moonlight with her back flippers, then drop her eggs, gradually cover the hole area with sand, and flipper herself across the beach to merge with the waves and disappear. "An ancient scene," she said. " Indications are that these turtles have been returning to this or other beaches for millions of years. I am fortunate to be able to watch and help protect them."
Though community egg income is gone, local residents now benefit from providing volunteers with rooms, meals and guiding services to visit the surrounding Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge.
For information or to make a donation, contact:
Website: www.anaicr.org
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