Turtle soup will not be on the menu in the eastern municipality of Pococí today after police detained two men for transporting 18 snapper turtles in a truck.
Rings, earrings, combs and bracelets are among the items seized by officials from the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) during an Easter Holy Week crackdown on wildlife trafficking.
Six of the suspects arrested for the murder of Costa Rican sea turtle conservationist Jairo Mora will remain in jail until at least May 1, the Limón Prosecutor's Office said.
In February, endangered leatherback sea turtles will begin nesting on Moín Beach, where conservationist Jairo Mora was killed by poachers last May. Police and government officials have no plans to protect the turtles, and environmentalists are now pushing to designate the area as a national park. But even that would be too late for this year's baby turtles.
Experts suspect red tide, but even that is an uncertainty. What is known is that the region's environmental agencies are not prepared to deal with the mass deaths of endangered sea turtles.
The population of the nearly extinct Eastern Pacific green sea turtle will likely be severely affected by the recent mass deaths, according to biologists. Longline fishing and a mass dynamiting are suspected killers.
Documents recently obtained by The Tico Times in the investigation of Jairo Mora’s death help unravel the mystery behind the murder of a young Costa Rican conservationist who once worked peacefully with poachers on the beach he tried to protect.
