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Joey
Beshore - Patrol leader This page is
dedicated to Joseph Beshore, our most experienced patrol leader. Joey has been learning marine turtle biology on the project for 5 years. Born in Hawaii -- moved to Costa Rica in 1998
and is now a resident with a Costa Rican wife and son. Joey is a dedicated father , a dedicated conservationist. Joey
has directed patrols for STF when Marc and Rachel Ward are in the US. I ( Marc Ward) have never
enjoyed working with someone more in all my life. Joey
collects biometric data for STF almost everyday for six months a year; he rarely takes days off. I give Joey days off
when I run the patrol for 90-120 days, but I have to convince him he needs a day off because he does not want to miss
a single night on patrol. He does eventually become completely exhausted and I always give him the option to have a days rest
when we have a full team on the patrol, otherwise Joey has to tow the line during early and late season when
the bulk of the team is not present. Joey has been confronted
by spear guns and machetes, and always has the right strategy to deal with adverse situations, although he did give up the
nest to the spear gun (smart move Joey) he almost always gets the nest secured. We developed a strategy to deal with the spear
gun toting poacher that was confronting our team, and shut him down. Joey is the most hard-core conservationist I have
ever had the pleasure of working with on Punta Pargos. He has to compete at times with some of Costa Rica's worst poachers.
Joey has been threatened by poachers who know he is short handed in late season, when our budget melts away into nothing.
Joey collects crawl data on a daily basis, he also is trained in nest
translocation ( 5% of nests) and recovery. Our data is more comprehensive because of Joey's tenacity during the early
and late parts of the season. He is becoming an expert in 5 species of marine turtle due to his continued involvement
with STF. We will learn volumes of information about nesting habits of the Chelonia Mydas (Pacific Green sea turtle) due to
Joey's efforts for STF. Joey is the only person
we have in the field at times, because of our budget restrictions and the local pay rate, he works for about $5 per hour,
but his efforts are priceless. Joey and I started doing marine plastic debris removal efforts together back in 1998, we have
moved mountains of marine plastic debris out of the nesting area together over the years. We owe a lot of our success to Joey's
continued efforts as an STF leader, and the support he gathers in the community of Los Pargos where he is a highly respected
citizen, and father.
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Joey
and rachel exhuming a nest for hatch data, this was another great recovery, it shows in thier faces and the egg count is obviously
excellent. Photo by Marc Ward
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Joey and I
started working together back in '99 cleaning the debris covered beach of Punta Pargos. We would work in-between surf sessions
to remove tons of plastics debris that had built up over many years of neglect. We called it " The plastics corp",
and we had allot of good times restoring habitat and sharing many perfect sessions at the numerous reefs that surround Punta
Pargos. Soon other surfers would join in and help and the idea grew exponentially. We have change allot over the last 10 years
in our approach to marine conservation, and our ability to carry out a sophisticated operation. Joey has stuck with it through
out the tough times and hung in there when things were seemingly impossible to overcome. Joey has upgraded his technical skills
and has mastered biometric recovery, translocation of eggs, and correct interaction with poachers. Joey, Jesse ( Gonzales) and Marc were the spark that lit the fire beneath the marine
plastics removal movement on Punta Pargos. Now we have three communities and Outward Bound involved with habitat management,
the idea has spread like fire. I believe we now enjoy the cleanest beaches in all of Costa Rica at the end of our yearly clean
up. Joey has had more influence in securing the environmental integrity of the nesting area more than any other Punta Pargos
local resident.
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Joseph
Beshore and William Aguilar after securing a nest from illegal harvest. Mission accomplished, this time.
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Gerry Beshore aka "Chief" has done more than just about anyone to keep us
on patrol, he has donated his quad, he has inspired us. Gerry is a retired marine, take a look at this guy at 60 something..... he
inspires everyone who knows him. THANK_YOU GERRY FOR YOUR INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT SUPPORT! We would have been on foot at
times without the generous use of Gerry's 4x4 quad grinding through the mud in rainy season. Gerry is a community leader
in Los Pargos, and Joey a conservation constant machine that participates in all STF activities with (almost)endless
energy and a sense of humor that is truely rare. Joey keeps moral at a high all the time with his overpoweringly positive
attitude.Thanks Gerry -- Thanks Joey, my brothers, you are a true eco-warriors.
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