Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom and AFP) — During the leatherback turtle nesting season that began last October, almost 900 of the endangered ocean reptiles have hatched at Junquillal Beach in Santa Cruz de Guanacaste.
Even though one of the 25 nests that have been protected since the beginning of the season is yet to hatch, World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) officials indicated 886 baby turtles have been born, most of them in a nursery that this environmental organization set up in this Costa Rican North Pacific beach, which in the past few years has become one of the main spots worldwide where the largest of the sea turtles come to lay their eggs.
Community support to protect the nests and keep them from being vandalized has been vital to this year’s record-high hatching rate of 62 percent.
The leatherbacks are giant migratory turtles that swim great distances to nesting spots in the tropics. Their main nesting area in Central America is Playa Grande, which like Junquillal also belongs to the canton of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste.
Junquillal, which only recently was found to be an important nesting site for leatherbacks, is not officially part of Costa Rica’s Conservation Areas System, making it difficult to conduct preservation campaigns from a legal standpoint.
According to the WWF website, the absence of patrolling efforts by authorities in the area leads to up to 75 percent of the eggs being stolen.
But this year’s community support and hatching success in Junquillal has led to optimism tha the turtles will increase their dwindling population.
“Junquillal has probably become the second most important beach for leatherback turtles to nest in Central America, due to not only the number of nests but also the success in the number of birth of young turtles,” said Gabriel Francia, who coordinates the WWF’s Pacific leatherback turtle conservation project.
Taking much of the credit are six young area residents who patrol the nearly six-kilometer (four mile) long stretch of beach each night looking for leatherbacks that have come ashore to lay eggs.
Team members will take note of the time the turtles crawl out of the ocean as well as the weather conditions and the tide. The team members then take the eggs from the beach nest after the mother turtle has returned to the ocean and move them to a secured hatchery.
The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) measures nearly two meters (6.5 feet) long and can weigh up to 650 kilos (1,430 pounds), making it the largest turtle species in the world. The number of leatherbacks worldwide has declined by nearly 90 percent in the past three decades.
