How to Help Sea Turtles
W
e can all do our part! These suggestions come from Nancy Tankersley, volunteer biologist at Sea Turtles Forever: www.seaturtlesforever.org
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Don't eat turtle eggs at local bars and restaurants. Illegal eggs are often sold as legal or "certificados" from Ostional, but many are not legal.
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Don't drive on soft beach sand. It makes it hard for turtles to dig nests and almost impossible for baby turtles to dig out after hatching underneath.
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Minimize the use of white lights on the beach at night during nesting/hatching season (mainly October to May on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast). Use red lights on headlamps or cover flashlights with red cellophane.
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Pick up litter on the beach, especially plastic. It fragments and absorbs toxic compounds in the ocean, which can be ingested by turtles and other marine life.
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Don't cut or burn wood from beach trees. They provide an important turtle nesting habitat and keep the sand moist for nests. Campfires can overheat nests underneath the sand (mostly from October to May).
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Donate to www.seaturtlesforever.org/donate or another ocean conservation group.
STF patrol officer scans the beaches around Los Pargos/Playa Negra for beaching turtles and poachers.
May 9-15, 2020 Includes: 6 nights at Drift Away Eco-Lodge Twice-daily yoga classes 3 Meals a day Cacao ceremony Transfer to/from Liberia airport Prices start at less than $1000/pp STF Lead Patroller William Zuniga and volunteer biologist Nancy Tankersley celebrate a successful nest relocation.
info@driftawayecolodge.com +506 2652 9086 driftawayecolodge.com HM HOWLER MAGAZINE | 21
