sea turtle conservation

After a large mob of tourists made headlines worldwide for interfering with nesting sea turtles in Costa Rica earlier this month, thousands of olive ridleys have returned to Ostional beach this week. Unlike the last time, when mobs of tourists prevented the turtles from laying their eggs, the beach was mostly clear of visitors.

Last weekend hundreds of tourists crowded the beach at Ostional Wildlife Refuge in Guanacaste, preventing several olive ridley sea turtles from nesting along the coastline, as they do every year. Some tourists touched the turtles, others stood on top of the nests, and parents placed their children on top of the turtles to take photographs.

PLAYA OSTIONAL, Guanacaste – Sea foam laps the shore as the sun rises over the ocean. It’s 5 a.m. on a calm, beautiful morning, but the residents of Ostional aren’t out to enjoy a leisurely walk on the beach – they’re hard at work.

The turtles, which weighed between 120 and 150 kilograms, were sent to the Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo for care, where two others have since been taken for care. Police have rescued at least seven of the ancient reptiles so far this year from poachers who capture them for their meat as they come ashore to lay their eggs.

Police in Limón have rescued a second green sea turtle in as many weeks that was likely destined for a soup pot.

Santa Fe Island, in the Galapagos archipelago, is the former home to Chelonoidis sp, a subspecies of giant tortoise which died out after humans took a hefty toll on the ecosystem, beginning in the 18th century when pirates and buccaneers decimated the population.

A gang of more than 10 poachers carrying sticks, machetes and guns allegedly attacked the international volunteers on Pacuare beach, Sea Shepard Central America spokesman Jorge Serendero told The Tico Times on Friday.

MIAMI – Tens of thousands of endangered sea turtles die every year in the United States when they are inadvertently snared in shrimp nets, an environmental group alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the government.

Supreme Court President Zarela Villanueva criticized President Luis Guillermo Solís for not keeping his ministers in order following the acquittal of the suspects in the Jairo Mora murder trial on Jan. 26.

Hundreds of protesters gathered Thursday in front of a court complex in the Costa Rican capital to express outrage over a verdict earlier this week that acquitted seven defendants of the 2013 murder of sea turtle conservationist Jairo Mora, who has quickly become an environmental martyr in this small Central American country known for its eco-tourism.