Study and Conservation of Sea Turtles:
Nesting and Feeding
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Overall Information
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Introduction
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Objectives
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Programme
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Faculty
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Type of course: In-person Field Course to be held in Costa Rica.
Places: The course will be held in the Caribbean Pacuare Reserve which has the highest nesting density of leatherback turtles in the entire Costa Rica's Caribbean, and Playa Blanca in Golfito, the best feeding area for black turtles and hawksbill in Costa Rica. Language: Spanish and/or English (depending on the group). Coordinator: Javier Lobón Rovira. Field teachers: Field Assistants from Pacuare Reserve and Playa Blanca Duration: 8 days Dates: Easter from 9th to 17th of April 2022 Amount: 1500€ (without international flights, nor travel insurance). |
Sea turtles are some of the longest populated animals in the world and perhaps it is this ability to survive that fascinates so many people.
Costa Rica, as a bridge between two oceans, has nesting beaches for five of the seven species described in the world, despite its small size. In addition, the long conservationist tradition of this small Central American country means that there are conservation and study projects on almost every beach in the country where turtles go out to roost. In a trip of just a few hours we can go from an Atlantic beach where the leatherback, green, hawksbill or loggerhead turtles lay their eggs, to one in the Pacific, where the leatherback, the black and the parrot nest. For this reason, due to the union of a long conservationist tradition and its privileged geographical position, there is probably no country in the world more appropriate for the study and enjoyment of sea turtles. During this course we will immerse ourselves in the fascinating world of the study and monitoring of sea turtles and the difficulties posed by their conservation. The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is still a very problematic area in terms of sea turtle conservation, so in addition to monitoring the important nesting areas worldwide, it is necessary to protect and conserve, in many cases with the use of nurseries where nests can watch for poachers. The Osa Peninsula, which encloses Golfito, is one of the most diverse areas of the planet and the shallow waters it has are the perfect feeding point for black turtles, that come from Hawaii, and hawksbills. |
Objectives:
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The course begins in San José de Costa Rica from where we will travel to the Pacuare Reserve in the Costa Rican Caribbean to attend the sea turtle conservation program developed there. This beach has one of the highest nesting densities of leatherback turtles in the country, and is part of the fourth largest population in terms of number of nesting females worldwide.
In Pacuare we will spend four nights, where in addition to patrolling the beach with the assistants of the Reserve in search of nesting turtles, we will be able to collaborate in the work of conditioning and maintenance of the egg nursery. In addition, we will visit the Reserve's forest and the system of canals that reach Tortuguero and Barra Colorado, where you can observe a spectacular and varied bird life. Later we will go to Playa Blanca, in Golfito on the Osa Peninsula, where there is an extensive area of shallow waters very good for the proliferation of marine phanerogams, which attract numerous sea turtles to feed. There we will go out in boat every day to put the nets and capture turtles with the intention of marking, measuring and deworming them, to be released as soon as possible. After Playa Blanca, we return to San José where the course ends. |
After his undergraduate studies, he was lucky enough to have the opportunity to cross the Atlantic to collaborate in different conservation projects in Canada and the USA for a year.
In addition, his interest and passion for wildlife and photography has led him to visit more than 30 countries, from tropical habitats to sand and ice deserts. He has collaborated in research projects of all kinds, in the fields of herpetology, ichthyology, ornithology and mastozoology. He had the opportunity to collaborate in two conservation projects (La Reserva Pacuare and the Veragua RainForest Foundation) in Costa Rica. He has recently collaborated in two important institutions, with the herpetological collections of the MNCN (together with Alberto Sánchez Vialas, professor of the course on Sampling Techniques in Herpetology) and with the Veragua RainForest Foundation, with which he continues to grow in the field of herpetology. He is currently finishing his PhD in evolutionary biology of South African herpetofauna at CIBIO - InBio, University of Porto, Portugal. |