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.
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.
PLAYA OSTIONAL, Guanacaste – By 7 p.m., it is already impossibly dark to read the signs on buildings. Every 100 meters or so, a singular yellow street lamp illuminates a small, dim area of the dirt road. The road is bumpy and it is dangerously difficult to see the dips and holes from dried tire marks in the mud.
It’s been almost a year since the murder of sea turtle conservationist Jairo Mora on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, and sea turtle programs across the country are still feeling the squeeze from a decrease in volunteers. One group is turning to a contest that could help them get a bump in funding.
