Tortugas

Well, after working on turtle conservation for a week, I definitely appreciate my office job! I knew I would, because a) I really like my job anyway, and b) I knew it would be hard work.  But it was REALLY hard work! I was free manual labor for a week, helping to build a structure that will house the egg hatchery (i.e., lots of digging holes in the sand) and walking miles on the beach at night (*without* lights, trying to avoid logs!) trying to get to turtle nests before poachers did. And the weather this week was horrid, rainy and stormy every day until Friday. Several night patrols took place during hour-long downpours. Tough conditions.
But the on-the-ground difference the WIDECAST organization is making is incredible. Our guide during our last night patrol, Chayo, told me (during a patrol break, sitting on a log in the middle of the night on a dark beach, in Spanish!) that he used to be a poacher himself, until he learned from project staff how poaching was affecting turtles. Poachers, of course, are just trying to make a living.  In the area of the Caribbean coast where we were camped, people either work on banana plantations or collect and sell turtle eggs (they go for $1 each, I'm told)...there really is no other work. Now, Chayo works for the WIDECAST project, leading night patrols. I think my favorite part of my week there was hearing his story.
At the station, there was also a small hawksbill turtle, very endangered, that we volunteers helped take care of. She used to be someone's pet, and the staff were trying to teach her to hunt rather than wait for prepared food. Some pictures of the turtle, the beach, the station where we were camped, and the boat ride to get there are below.