Sea Turtles Forever was just an idea back in 2002, when we realized the scope of illegal harvest taking place. We had a goal back then to protect just one nest from poachers. Not being easily satisfied, and understanding the problem more in-depth as we undertook our preliminary study, that became a goal to protect 100% of the Sea Turtle nests laid on Punta Pargos . We are reaching for that goal, like a turtle climbing a mountain, we knew the challenges we faced when we started the program wee substantial, and I knew STF could be a cutting edge operation if our protocols could be carried out. Starting a marine conservation program in an area previously unstudied, where the culture was focused on harvesting the eggs for consumption and livestock feed was definitely a big challenge. Out in the jungle where absolutely no law enforcement is available, out numbered by poachers who have taken these eggs for generations, and no solid backing other than moral support -- we have HAD OUR HANDS FULL. The tagging operations we will undertake this season will shed new information on our Chelonia Mydas cohort and answer some of our biggest questions as to the make-up and migratory patterns of our turtles. The science we will accomplish this season ( 08/09)will allow us to write a complete report on the state of our nesting cohort, and also their off nesting season foraging areas. Joey has been chasing armed poachers off our site for three years now. At $75 dollars per week we have been getting the best end of that deal, so Joey got a raise to $100 per week this season. I tell you this because it inspires me to know Joey, a guy who is working not for the financial gain, but because he believes what we are doing is right and necessary. We are insuring the future for our marine turtles, and that is absolutely necessary for the welfare of our planet.
2009/2010 --
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 of year.
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 as everywhere. I predict we will face our stiffest competition for the eggs we have ever seen, but we also have the largest most well organized and equiped team we have ever fielded. It seems that as we grow and evolve so do the constant threats we see to our marine turtles on Punta Pargos. Extreme equinox tides at this time and the El Nino conditions in the eastern pacific have not allowed for much early season nesting, we hope conditions will improve in November and we will double and triple the size of our patrol team to meet the prime nesting season head-on with the best team we have ever fielded. 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
UPDATE 09/10: We secured the second nest from Yelda, the first tagged Green of the season. So we are to a good start and I will gaurantee we will outdo our record effort last season. A funny ( kind of) note about last week is that William had a cow fall on him when mending fences. The cow somehow fell on a hillside and rolled over William as he was mending fences, Joey tells me he has a bruise from his glutes to his shoulders but he is still out on patrol at night after one day off. We don't call him " El Toro" for nothing -- he is the toughest guy I have ever met I think. Never a dull moment on Punta Pargos. Poachers 0 ----- STF 2
Our neretic hybrid , " Julia", is still on the project and we hope to answer some of the questions behind the enigma of our apparent genetic deviant Hawksbills on Punta Pargos this year. on that aspect of our program, and helping to complete the whole picture of our turtles’ environmental conditions. The volunteer help that has gone into the project over the last three years has been inspiring. Many people from all around the globe have participated in our Punta Pargos Project. I have been in awe of the dedication they have shown to protecting our precious marine wildlife. Working under extremely demanding conditions for their love of turtles.
2008/2009 -- season underway and things are as lively as ever. We have started to see turtles as of October 1st and have secured 18 of 29 nests up to this time (Nov 4th). Joey had to shut down a rifle packing poacher this week who was very determined to go away with turtle eggs from our nesting site at Playa Blanca. Joey is going all out as usual to save every nest he can during the early season, and he talked the poacher down and tried to explain extinction to the man. The situation was defused and the poacher was deterred, but it shows you how effective our protocols are in that the poachers are so desperate to get eggs with us there they need to bring a rifle. Old habits die hard but those eggs belong to all Costa Ricans not just a few die-hard poachers, if we do not stop the poaching we will loose those turtles and all Costa Ricans, and all of mankind will suffer a depleted ecology. We have a great team gathering to once again descend on the nesting area and reinforce the local team of marine turtle conservationists. This year we will be tagging our Eastern Pacific Greens so we can gather data on specific individuals more efficiently, and obtain growth and possibly foraging information. Working in collaboration with Pretoma and Randall Arauz we hope to satellite tag several Greens and learn new information about their migratory patterns so we can identify threats that face them in the off-nesting season. We hope to conduct an in-water survey of the nesting area this winter. Pretoma will be collaborating with us
FINAL UPDATE 08/09: STF ended up securing 7500 out of 10,200 eggs during the course of the 08/09 season. Clutch sizes were averaging around 65 eggs. We ended up with approximately 80% hatch recovery, but had three nests hatch out at 100% which was high for a season. This number does not include approximately 400 eggs secured outside the normal patrol area during preliminary investigations for expanded operations that are planned for the 09/10 season. We had our most productive season on record, against some big odds, once again. I have got to hand it to Dr. Bunch, Joseph Beshore, William Aguilar, Lindsey Jensen, Peter Bunch, they were outstanding in thier determination and professionalism. A full report of all the technical data generated during the 08/09 season can be had upon request.
UPDATE 08/09 season: We have tagged 23 Chelonia Mydas on the project over the course of the season. We started tagging in late December due to a hold up with our tagging equipment, therfor missing the opportunity to tag 5-6 of our early season nesting females. We have however established a good start for the program and are closing in on the population numbers we are seeking, and information about nesting cycles and individual nesting habits of our Green Turtles. We experienced approximately 400 Green Turtle nesting events over the course of the season from Oct 1st to April 30th, a very significant number of events. Our temperature study has revealed to us that the incubation temperatures of the Punta Pargos nesting area are ideal for mixed sex hatch raios that are important for the long term sustainability of the regional cohort. Our translocation tactics have proved exceptionally effective in securing the clutches from illegal harvest and also in hatch recovery ratios, our translocated nests actually have a higher recovery rate than the nests left In-Situ, something we never imagined could be possible. The advanced science we have been able to perform on our subjects is rapidly deveoloping a fully comprehensive blueprint of our Eastern Pacific Green Turtles lives, nesting habits, and reproduction success rates. We have advanced the general knowledge of the regions marine turtles by a giant step.
All in all the bottom line is about the hatchlings and we have produced about 30,000 of them over the last five years, that is one measure of our success. I am still doing calculations on the cost per unit, somewhere around $2.00 US per turtle, but it was a small price to pay for 30,000 more hatchling Sea Turtles.
Marc Ward
2007/2008 SEASON:
The volunteer help that has gone into the project over the last three years has been inspiring. Many people from all around the globe have participated in our Punta Pargos Project. I have been in awe of the dedication they have shown to protecting our precious marine wildlife. Working under extremely demanding conditions for their love of turtles.
All in all the bottom line is about the hatchlings and we have produced about 30,000 of them over the last three years, that is one measure of our success. I am still doing calculations on the cost per unit, somewhere around $2.00 US per turtle, but it was a small price to pay for 30,000 more hatchling Sea Turtles. We have secured 122 Marine turtles nests for the season as of 3/15/08, this is up from a total of 107 nests secured for last season. Our hatch recovery ratios are above 90% overall and we have lost only 20 nests to poachers for the season. The 07/08 season has been a complete success though a hard fought battle to say the least. The project was run efficiently due in large part to our team leaders, Joey Beshore, David Ledbetter, and Jesse Gustafson. Added pressure from development and illegal squatting made our job even more demanding, but Team Alpha rose to the challenge and performed admirably. We were short handed this season wich is the norm, but the team leaders stepped up to fill the many patrol spots that we needed covered, often working double shifts and performing 5 hour lock-downs on beaches with extreme poaching problems. Morale was at a low point towards mid-season, but Randall Arauz showed up on patrol and lifted our spirits. Randall is a good friend and collaborator of the project and having him on patrol was a great honor for Team Alpha. It lifted morale, and we never lost our momentum again through the hard ending-season weeks.
The Lance Ferris Memorial Challenge also put more pressure on Team Alpha but gave us a new understanding of how bad the Marine Plastics Debris situation is becoming. Sorting 1000 pounds of Marine Plastics Debris was hard on the team but I only asked for volunteers and no one was required to do any work on the Lance Ferris Challenge who was not willing to throw in their free time to get the job done. We did get the job done and honored Lance and the great work that he has done. We raised awareness about Lance's efforts and the situation we face dealing with MPD in our environment. I would like to thank Joey Beshore, David Ledbetter, and Jesse Gustafson for their incredible efforts above and beyond the norm on patrol this season, and I would also like to thank Tanya, Marie, and Albert Martinez for their exemplary work on the Lance Ferris Challenge.
2006/2007 The nesting season has started with a bang! Many poachers are competing with our local patrollers and we have saved 11 out of 18 nests. This is a bit of a rough start, but monsoon conditions are ideal for poachers to do their work under dark rainy skies -- and our patrollers are out-numbered ten to one in October. We are preparing our largest group of volunteers ever to converge on the nesting area in three weeks and reinforce our local patrollers with a great team of marine conservationists dedicated to saving every nest. We will patrol day and night to insure that our Punta Pargos Sea Turtles have a chance at surviving the generation old practice of poaching every nest. Many new faces have become part of our eco-arsenal, with backgrounds in not only marine turtle conservation but also in education, the two elements that it will require to create the necessary change in attitude. Poaching eggs is culturally imbedded in tropical countries, and will push the marine turtle into extinction if not addressed.
Together is still our key word and many businesses and individuals in Oregon have donated time, money, and materials to make our project a possibility. I would like to personally thank all of you, for the contributions you have made to our Punta Pargos Project. Without a wide support base we could never have come so far so fast. We will hatch out between six and eight thousand endangered turtles during the 06/07 season with the support you have given STF.
05/06 season-Our save ratio was 82%. That is commendable considering the save ratio in 2001 was 0%. We are beginning to become a experienced team and have found our protocols are working.
