The Costa Rica Internet Directory

Sea turtles have probably been nesting on the beaches of Costa Rica since time immemorial, but it’s only been within the past 30 years or so that research has been publicized about it. This world awareness began when Dr. Archie Carr, the founder of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, came to Tortuguero in his search for the nesting sites of the green sea turtle. His descriptions of the primordial instincts of these amazing creatures not only helped to ensure Tortuguero’s national park designation, but the world’s perception of Costa Rica in what was then not even called ecotourism. People have been coming to Costa Rica for decades to help preserve these endangered animals, by tagging as well as assisting in other research.

Prized for their shells, eggs and meat, turtles have been hunted by indigenous people in all of Latin America, but it wasn’t until the arrival of Europeans that the numbers begin "harvested" started to become dangerously high. Turtle soup became a delicacy in the late 1800s, and by the late 1950s were taking nearly every female green turtle arriving in Tortuguero was being taking for the export market.

This, combined with local poaching and the dangers turtles face from fishing nets and natural predators has brought world sea turtle populations to dangerously low levels. The work of people like Dr. Archie Carr made the world aware of the potential loss of these beautiful creatures, and protection programs now exist in nearly every corner of the globe. Although still in somewhat threatened status, most sea turtle species’ population are stabilized.

Costa Rica’s combination of an enormous percentage of protected costal land, and its location as part of the narrowest portion of the Central American isthmus creates a nearly unrivaled number of nesting sites for five varieties of endangered and /or threatened sea turtles. In fact, Tortuguero National Park and Ostional -Nancite Beach in Santa Rosa National Park are two of the Western Hemisphere’s most important turtle hatcheries.

The importance of these, and other nesting sites such as Las Baulas National Marine Park, Boca Rio Matina, Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge and Corcovado National Park are some of the main reasons that so many nature enthusiasts head for Costa Rica annually. Some come to volunteer in turtle research foundation activities, but the majority comes for the profound experience of watching the age-old ritual of the "arribada"-or egg laying- of these magnificent reptiles. Close to 8.000 olive ridley turtles are said to come ashore nightly onto Santa Rosa’s Playa Nancite-surely a breathtaking sight for those lucky enough to experience it!

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of discretion when viewing turtles while they are laying eggs or hatching. Guides and volunteers are often on site to keep onlookers from disturbing the process, as it’s highly possible to disrupt the female enough that she’ll actually turn back to the sea before completing her task.

The turtle that nest on Costa Rica’s shores range in size from the 40 kilo olive ridley to the mighty leatherback, that can reach lengths of 2.5 meters and weigh in at nearly 700 kilos. But hatchings of each species face the same threats after they bite through the rubbery surface of their eggs. Instinct drives them all toward the open sea, where as they cross the sand they run the gamut of dangers between sea gulls, crabs, stray dogs and unfortunately some times humans. The one out of every 5.000 that make it to deep waters and survives to adulthood will join the ranks that return to mate and nest off on Costa Rica’s protected waters repeating the amazing ritual to which they’re instinctively driven.

The black sand beach of Tortuguero draws the largest nesting population of green turtles, Chelonia mydas, in the Atlantic Ocean. Green turtles have been hunted for centuries for their meat and eggs, which are considered delicacies. They are still hunted extensively in some areas, although this is illegal throughout the world. The southern Tortuguero beach is important nesting habitat for leatherbacks, Dermochelys coriacea, the only sea turtle without a hard shell. Leatherbacks are killed for their body oil, which is used for fuel and medicinal purposes.

These gentle giants are also vulnerable to marine pollution. Leatherbacks may die after eating floating plastic bags, which they apparently mistake for jellyfish — their favorite food.

All sea turtle eggs are considered delicacies, believed by many cultures to be aphrodisiacs. Marine pollution, incidental capture in shrimp nets and habitat destruction also threaten sea turtles.

All sea turtle species are declining. Of the seven species of sea turtles six are listed as endangered and one as threatened. There are only three nesting places in the world and Playa Grande is one of them. The National Marine Park Las Baulas of Guanacaste and the wildlife Refuge of Tamarindo located in Playa Grande, Guanacaste, is the nesting place of the leatherback turtle (dermochelys coriacea) known as the Baula turtle, being the most important in Costa Rica. The nesting season begins on October 20th and ends on February 15th, making Playa Grande one of Costa Rica’s most popular tourist attractions.