2011/2012 Season: Our patrols began on October 1st this season due to budget constraints.
We have a good team of experienced patrollers on the beach but they are facing stiff competition from poachers. We have a
small budget this season but we have a strong intern/volunteer group that will help balance out the short-fall of resources
to work with on the ground. Very little nesting has taken place in the early season but conditions are improving and Lagartillo
had it's fisrt nest of the season this week.We have tagged three new nesting Green turtles, secured 6 nests -- had our first
hatch emerge from an incidental surviving clutch. So although we are moving a bit like turtles on the ground we are building
momentum and have great expectations for a successful 2011/2012 nesting season on Punta Pargos. This year marks a decade from
when this project was just an idea, a vision of what could be -- in the hearts and minds of Rachel and Marc Ward. We
are going to generate a list of all the wonderful people that have contributed to a decade of STF marine turtle
conservation along the way. It has not been an easy road to go down, we have had our share of lessons learned and pit-falls
to survive, but we have survived and succeeded at hatching thousands and thousands of marine turtles and restoring and maintaining
their habitat. This is truely what it will take to have Sea Turtles Forever, I salute all of those who have come gone down
this road with us to make a difference for the turtles, and the planet.
2010/2011 Season Update: If you are reading this you made it into the
more inner circle of understanding.
We started our regular patrols on Semptember 1st, 2010 a
couple of weeks earlier than most seasons to build an early presence on the beach. This season was revolutionary as far
as socio-cultural gains, which the whole long-term strategy for success of our operations hinges on. You read last year about
our local artisinal fishermen and how STF was training and paying them to work in protection and conservation of the marine
turtles in the area. This has proven to be a turning point for local attitudes toward the project and has created more understanding
and participation amoung community members. The local assistants are paid modest amounts to protect secluded, hard to
patrol areas and also our main nesting beaches during patrol hours. By creating a livelyhood for these hard up poachers,fishermen
and divers the hard -core poachers can no longer say we are stealing the eggs for our own benefit. With the local contingent
of assistants always on the beach the cost of protection is actually less, and we have more conrtol over the beach environment.
I am amazed at how our local patrollers will defy social pressure and take so much pride in having a job in conservation
even though poachers sometimes come to their homes to confront them for supporting the conservation movement. My team has
had to fight man on man in front of their homes on occasion with drunk poachers trying to stop them from joining the
STF team. Our patrollers are prospering at a time of few or no jobs available and so take immense pride in the
work they are doing and appreciate the benefits of conservation. All our patrol team have had to defend the turtles
with extreme resolve as economic conditions have deteriorated creating a more aggressive attempt by poachers to illegally
harvest anything they can sell or eat.
We have broken our production record again -- more nests secured
than ever before, more hathclings produced than ever before, more social progress than ever before during the 210/2011 season.
STF has managed to persever through one of the most incredible conservation efforts of all time by a grass-roots communtiy
based organization.
2009/2010 -- Off season patrols in June.
STF ran patrols in June with two key patrollers for the first time this year to gather off -season
data and information. They managed to secure one Chelonia nest but lost five to illegal harvest. Some data was generated but
over one month of observations only 6 nests were observed due to the very low level of nesting taking place in June.
We decided to start regular patrols in September as always and stick to our model for efficiency and success by focusing the
most resources at the peak nesting time.
STF started regular
patrols on the 15th of September. Our first Chelonia Mydas nest was secured (translocated) on the 18th of September. We have
several new members on our field team and have grown due to support from corporate and private donors. The challenges have
also grown in some respects due to the global economic climate. Last year we saw the price of fresh turtle eggs almost double
on the black market, and jobs dwindle. I predict we will face stiff competition for the eggs, but we also have the largest
most well organized and equipped team we have ever fielded. Extreme equinox tides and the El Nino conditions in the eastern
pacific did not allowed for much early season nesting, I am excited to have such a large and experience team to work with
this winter, when last season we had a small crew due to economic conditions. Not that those conditions seem much improved
overall --- but we have a solid budget for the first time since the founding of this long and arduous undertaking, an undertaking to
save an important cohort from extinction, at the end of the road in a forgotten place. Lets see how we do ----- Sea Turtles
Forever, Marc.
09/10 May 20th -- regular season extended: 148 nests secured and patrols are still operating
with three local assistants. We have potentially over 10,000 hatchlings for the season, a milestone. We are still
synthesizing data but will have a final report in early June.
Julia did not
fair so well and at this time I believe she was killed during a large swell in December. One of our trackers found a
turtle fitting Julia's discription a few miles south of the project area. One of the most experienced hunters/trackers
in the area found her on the water-line looking like she was ready to pass. On the bright side of that we located
another large male hybrid and got footage of him in-water. Julia had been observed numerous times in October and November
at Negra but unfortunately not seen since Beto located the dying turtle just south of the project area.
Beto --- that is a STF success story worth noting here.Beto is the premier tracker and hunter/diver in
the area and has lived in the area since the early 80s'. He was one of our adversaries and like many others harvested eggs
in the past. Roberto -- "Beto" as we call him, has joined the team and is becoming a huge asset on the beach for
STF. The fact that Beto has joined the team has social impact that goes beyond his effectiveness at securing nests. This is
the most respected outdoorsman in the area and his decision to push for hatchling production has made the whole community
take a serious look at the need for production. The locals call Beto "Pirhana" because he is such an efficient diver.
Some people just call Beto "The Hunter". Beto has helped us secure a record number of Green nests this season, and
is dedicated to production of Green turtle hatchlings, watch the numbers soar now.
Bernardo -- another
monumental change in social structure of the nesting area has taken place at Callejones. Bernardo or "Corchete" (
Cork), is also one of the most acclaimed divers/fishermen in the area. Bernardo was also a huevador for many years before
we started the project. Bernardo is working for STF in hatchling production now, which has incredible social impact
at Callejones. His family (4 sons) live 100 meters south of the nesting area, and Bernardo is highly respected as a lobster
diver and fisherman. His commitment to the project is amazing and now he is patrolling the beach with his family
to secure nests for our STF technicians. We have a program to pay these artisinal fishermen $16 per Green, Hawksbill, or Leatherback
nests to secure them for our technicians and keep poachers off the beach at night. Bernardo has taken it a step further and
stopped all illegal driving and fires in this secluded cove just north of the fishing village where campers come from inland
towns. The effect was incredible on our data, nesting increased at that site immediately due to Bernardo and his sons influence
with Tico campers. Bernardo takes great pride in the fact that "Baho de la Tortuga" is his home. The $16 per nest
or about 20 cents an egg we pay him allows him to take pride in the fact that he has a job in marine turtle production and
can feed his family, legally. The fact that many people in this area live from meal to meal makes it a constant challenge
to defend the nests from poaching, but when you have someone like Bernardo and his sons in your corner the local people have
a whole new respect for the project.
Olanijn Rodriguez Rodriguez: This man is incredible and has made monumental
change take place in a location we have been trying to crack for five years. I would say 99.9% of all nests laid anywhere
near Lagarto had been harvested for the last 30 years or more, Olanijn has managed to change that with the help of STF. We
put Olanijn on the $16 program and trained him in basic nest securing tactics and translocation tactics. He lives right on
the beach in a secluded stretch of high nesting activity and has lived there for 73 years as a fisherman. Olanijn is intelligent
and knows the turtles very well, being a fisherman for his whole life with a Ponga in the water constantly. So we had the
honor of hatching out the very first nest there at Lagarto secured by the family of Olanijn, with Randall Arauz , a very monumental
moment. Olanijn has been locking down nests ever since and we have a hatchery area producing Greens, and hopefully Hawksbills.
The progress in these areas is amazing -- for 20 cents an egg. Fishing is bad and Olanijn looked like he was starving
when we started the program and his son had no work --- what would they eat. By paying them this $16 bonus they can take pride
in the fact that they can feed thier families something beside turtle eggs and also see hatchlings produced. That first nest
was a big deal -- the whole town knew, they were all celebrating and found me and took me to the hatching nest. I watched
the hatch but returned with Randall Arauz so he could see the event and exhume the eggs for data. This is in a place where
five years ago the towns people would not talk to me becasue they thought I was MINAE. Now they know I am MINAE but love
me becasue they have to, I won't go away! This was the most important event of the season, hatching a nest and commencing
production in Lagarto, all made possible by a 73 year old guy who understood why I was so adament that production of hatchlings
was essential to the survival of these endangered species.
Arnoldo Vasques: South of Olanijn, Arnoldo started
working with the project last season when I caught him with a fridge full of eggs living in an extremely significant Green
turtle nesting area completely secluded in a pocket-cove. Arnoldo was put on the $16 a nest program and has worked with
me for training and tactics in In-Situ and translocation of nests. We had a dozen or so Greens nesting in that little cove
over the course of the season and Arnoldo was like a mother hen keeping the foxes out. This is in an ultra-secluded area where
some of his worst competitors have been the Lagarto Police! He had 14 nests to his credit by last week and 6 had hatched out
with good ratios. Now his friend Harley has teamed up with him and they have personally told many of the poachers to not take
any nests from their area -- it is their job to protect the eggs for production now and they take huge pride in the fact that
they have that job. But the police are a bit harder to deal with and special care has to be considered. I need to feed that
up to the top of the Regional Management for consideration. I do not want to disturb things or cause problems for Arnoldo
and Harley when we are securing most of the nests at this time anyway. You have to understand that everyone in Costa Rica
eats turtle eggs if they live in the impoverished rural areas, securing a nest is very tricky in these secluded areas where
most of the nesting is actually taking place for Greens and Hawksbills. Arnoldo is a pioneer, a real pit-bull on the beach
too.
The data result numbers are all record breaking this season but to me the real transformation is all about
the social gains. These men, these Tico pioneers in marine turtle conservation, are key to accomplishing the real change we
have been working for. Marine turtle conservation absolutely goes against the grain of social momentum here in the jungle,
it is still hunter gatherer-like mentality and there is really no-one but STF to monitor the chaos in some of these far out
secluded areas. To step-up and join our team shows true knowledge of the situation we face with marine turtles and wildlife
in general for the Guanacaste. The outdoorsmen who have lived here for decades see the need and see STF can organize a solid
comprehensive plan for re-establishing a depleted and ultra-important resource ---- our Chelonia Mydas
Jesse
Gustafson/Dave Ledbetter ( Danger): These two technicians have trained with STF for 3 and 4 years now, they went
beyond all the previously set parameters to gather information and begin operations in Marbella as funded for by Eco-Environmental
Services Ltd, London. When Jesse and Dave started off the patrols on Marbella they had up to 20 poachers working the 1.5 mile
area. On the second night they were offered a warm cooked turtle egg by one of the poachers, that was the epitome of
all history for a night patrol to experience. They managed to gather data and secure some nests which was our goal. They also
daringly brought the first overt marine turtle conservation operation to the area, camping at the edge of the jungle
in the area of Leatherback activity for 4-10 day periods of time to create a presence and instill the idea of conservation
firmly in the minds of the locals. The local police backed us up and worked with me to help insure there would be no violence,
and had the local huevadors on notice that conservation had come to Marbella. Jesse Gustafsonand Dave Ledbetter and also Joseph
Beshore did the field data and nest management work along with Marc Ward on what we deemed "THE TIP of THE SPEAR."
Botanical Survey: The 50 meter maritime zone in Costa Rica is protected but in need of close management.
An important part of the marine turtles environment are the trees on the beach. The most important tree is the Buttonwood
(Conocarpus Erectus), this tree is the closest to the water and can draw nutrients from sodium. The Buttonwoods are where
our most successful hatches take place due to the shade they create and cover. Robert Weiss is the Botanist working to map
species and answer questions about the importance of each to the 50 meter and nesting zone. Rob was also on our field
team working with marine turtles at night and doing Botanical Survey work during the day. I was extremely impressed that
he has donated incredible resources to not only patrol on the data team but undertake the botanical survey during the day
too. We have learned allot from Rob about the make-up of our projects flora and found two extremely toxic plants in the process.
We hope to complete a botanical map of the project area in the next three years.
