No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeScienceCosta Rica Turtle Study Provides New Insights into 'Arribadas'

Costa Rica Turtle Study Provides New Insights into ‘Arribadas’

A study conducted at Costa Rica’s Playa Ostional has given researchers from an Australian university new insights into sea-turtle arribadas.

The findings, published in Scientific Reports, suggest a “developmental difference between the eggs of arribada and non-arribada nesting females.”

Here’s what the researchers said in an email to The Tico Times:

Monash University researchers made an exciting discovery about the fascinating olive ridley turtle mass-nesting phenomenon. These mass-nesting events, known as “arribadas,” meaning “arrival to shore” in Spanish,  involve hundreds of thousands of turtles nesting on one beach over a few days and nights.

Olive ridley sea turtles
Photo via Monash University.

Olive ridley turtles can also nest individually like other species of sea turtle. Olive ridley turtle embryos were found to have a remarkable ability to pause development inside a low-oxygen environment like that in their mother’s oviduct for up to 15 days, much longer than other species of sea turtles studied to date.

The embryo’s ability to pause development depended on whether they were laid in mass-nesting events or in solitary nesting events.  The study, led by Dr. Sean Williamson from the School of Biological Sciences, found that eggs that were laid in arribadas were capable of remaining paused for longer than those laid in solitary nesting. This is probably because arribada nesting females need to have eggs capable of sitting in the oviduct for longer periods of time in order to synchronize with other turtles.

There are longer inter-nesting periods (time period between nests) for arribada nesting turtles when compared with solitary nesting turtles, which means eggs are kept in the oviduct for longer. The ability of olive ridley turtle eggs to remain in embryonic arrest is likely critical for how this remarkable nesting strategy has been able to evolve.

Read the full report online here

Trending Now

Costa Rica Seeks New Air Routes Amid Decline in European Tourism

Costa Rica is working to increase the number of international flights entering the country, as it faces a concerning drop in tourist arrivals.  The...

Costa Rica Embraces IHRA to Combat Antisemitism in Region

Costa Rica has formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. This step positions the country as the sixth in...

Costa Rica Food Culture: From Bar Bocas to Fast Food Chains

Once upon a time in Costa Rica, you could walk into a bar, order a beer, and receive a free boca – a small...

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly Vacation in Costa Rica with Baby

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly touched down in Costa Rica for a family getaway with their three-month-old daughter, Saga Blade Fox-Baker. Photographers caught...

Costa Rica Surpasses 500 Homicides as Gang Violence Escalates

Costa Rica has officially surpassed 500 homicides so far this year, according to figures released Monday by the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ). As of...

A Costa Rica Expat and the Devil on His Shoulder

Everyone has a dark side—that little devil in your conscience that says, go ahead and do it! even though you know it’s wrong. It...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica