BCAA Travel Blog

Each summer under the cover of nightfall, more than 30,000 female green sea turtles crawl out of the ocean and drag their 200-kilogram bodies up the palm-lined beaches of northeast Costa Rica–often the same ones on which they were hatched—and scour out a pit in the sand. There, grunting and weeping, they lay 100 or so rubbery, ping-pong-ball-like eggs, from which, two months later, tiny babies will emerge and madly scramble down to the moonlit sea. The mothers, who swim thousands of kilometres to reach this birthing place, never see their young.

At other times of the year, this ancient ritual is repeated here by three other species of sea turtles—hawksbills, loggerheads, and giant leatherbacks, which reach two metres in length and weigh up to a ton. This coastal area, which is part of 19,000-hectare Tortuguero National Park, is one of the world’s most important nesting grounds for endangered sea turtles, especially the greens, which were nearly hunted to extinction by poachers in the 1960s. Today, however, the greens are making a comeback, due in large part to conservationists, whose determined efforts have helped make Tortuguero a protected sanctuary for sea turtles and transformed this remote region into an ecotourist paradise that pumps an estimated $6.7 million into the local economy each year.

Vancouver writer Cam Sylvester recently journeyed to Costa Rica to spend a week collecting data on the sea turtles with a crew of volunteers and researchers from Global Vision International at the Cano Palma Biological Station, located near the lagoon-strewn jungle of Tortuguero National Park. His account of the adventure can be found in the latest issue of Westworld magazine. It was an enlightening experience for Sylvester, who took the time to answer a few questions about his trip.

I have read that one of the problems with attempts to preserve the nesting grounds of the sea turtles in Costa Rica is the lack of protection they receive in other places in the world that the turtles go to feed. Can you comment on this?

That’s true. Organizations like the one I was visiting protect turtles on the beach, but green turtles and leatherbacks in particular, travel tremendous distances to feed between nesting years. Out in the oceans they are susceptible to long-line fishing and pollution. I mentioned in the article that leatherbacks are often found with their stomachs plugged up with plastic bags that they mistook for jellyfish. But greens hang out in sargassum weed in their early lives, and plastics, Styrofoam, bunker oil and other human refuse tends to collect there, and the turtles feed on that as well. As well, out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii, scientists have discovered a huge garbage dump of plastic estimated to be twice the size of Texas which is smack dab in the middle of the migration routes for some turtles.

What impressed you most about the turtles themselves?

Their size, of course. I’m anthropomorphizing here, but I would say their dignity and dogged determination as well. Of course they aren’t so much “determined” as genetically driven, and their internal “dignity” is probably just me projecting my awe at the marvels and power of nature that could produce such magnificent creatures.

What interesting facts did you discover about sea turtles while researching your article?

Where to start? Just concentrating on leatherbacks for a moment, their bodies have evolved so that they can both slow down their brains and use what amounts to heat exchangers to keep their flippers warm so they can survive the severe cold they experience when diving to incredible depths. Leatherbacks fitted with time-depth recorders have made dives of more than 1,000 metres. This depth exceeds that reported for any air-breathing vertebrate with the possible exceptions of sperm whales and elephant seals. They also have a translucent pink patch on the top of their heads which scientists believe allows light to enter a gland near their skull to help them navigate. Also, sea turtles absorb salt water. This would normally kill them, just like it would kill you or me if we were lost at sea with only sea water to drink. But their bodies excrete the salt in tears. That’s why the nesting turtles often appear to be crying.

Since you can’t carry flashlights on the beaches for fear of disturbing the turtles, how are you able to see the ones that come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand?

That really is a problem, actually, especially if there is no moonlight. In dim light, it seems that every log rolling in the surf is a turtle, and in the dark you can really do some damage to your feet whacking into large hunks of driftwood. But even in the dark, it is pretty hard to miss the turtle tracks, and those are what you see first.

The research camp certainly had a lot rules. Which one did you find was the most difficult to cope with?

It was really regimented, and it had to be. Global Vision International’s goal is to do real research for their partner organizations. Doing any sort of reliable, usable research requires training and coordination so that the data is gathered in a controlled way. All of the volunteers except for me had to go through three weeks of training and pass tests before they were allowed to go on the walks. The beach walks followed specific routes, timed almost to the minute so one of the two teams out every night were not leaving any portion of the beach unobserved for more than 40 minutes or so. Each day the volunteers were scheduled to go on a beach walk, or a jag walk, or a bird count, or a mammal count, or cook all the meals, or something else. There wasn’t really much time for yourself. No drinking on the day of a beach walk was my least favourite rule, especially since I was out almost every night on a walk. Also, there was no guitar playing allowed in any common area because some previous volunteer had played Neil Young’s “Old Man” until he drove the team batty.

What kinds of wildlife did you see during your stay at Tortuguero?

Macaws, caimans, iguanas, howler monkeys, green ibises, anhingas, tiger herons, red-eyed tree frogs. Oh, and there were some amazingly frightening spiders hanging out just about everywhere in the camp, and even if I weren’t an arachnophobe, their size would have given me pause.

In your article you mentioned that jaguars were hunting the turtles in the area. Did having these predatory cats so close worry you at all?

They were miles away down the beach and across the canal. They are quite timid as well. Since I’ve turned 50, I’ve noticed that I’m slower than I used to be, but I’m pretty sure a jaguar would still consider a sea turtle foundering on the beach in an egg-laying trance much easier prey than me.

Did you come away from your experience in Costa Rica with optimism about the future prospects of the survival of sea turtles?

Yes and I was surprised. I thought this was going to be one of those money-making tourist activities thinly veiled as an eco-sensitive enterprise. But the stats show the turtles are returning in larger numbers. And that makes me think nothing is for sure when it comesto the future of the planet, and that we can make a difference if we have the will to do so.

 

Filed under: Westworld Writer Interviews