Ostional Day 1

7-23-11

                It was an early morning for me. I was up at 5:45 and left the house at 6:05 to meet my SD class at Veritas for our 5 hour drive to Ostional to see the only sustainable harvesting of turtle eggs. Of course due to Tico time we left at about 15 min late, but I’m really do not worry about exact time anymore, it’s pretty nice! Since the drive was long I decided to take my Dramamine, although it turned out that we spent most of the time on the toll roads which are really well maintained. We stopped for breakfast at one of the many open air restaurants by the side of the road (all of them have really awesome food) for breakfast. The ride was very uneventful for me since I was asleep the whole time… and thanks to antihistamine induced drossiness the ride seemed really short!

We got into Ostional at 12:30 and got settled into our rooms with a family in the town (they have a hostel/camping business and had three dogs, and much to my delight one of them was a little puppy!) and had a typical Costa Rican lunch (chicken and veggie stew, with rice and tortilla chips). We ate in their covered open air porch right behind the dunes and watched the sea. It was idyllic, blue water, black sands, an empty beach in a protected biological reserve. After lunch we had a break so Karen Rebecca, Kelsey, Dat and I (my classmates) decided to explore the beach a bit. The waves were huge and the current in Ostional is very strong, so it’s not that popular for swimming but surfers love it. We saw many of them as we explored the beach and several estuaries. Everywhere the sand was covered with what looked like crushed ping-pong balls. There were turtle egg shells. We learned this about an hour later during our tour with the chief biologist of the Ostional development project. He said that the sea turtles come in by the thousands to lay their eggs in about a one kilometer section of this beach throughout the year. Based on the lunar cycle there are 12-16 Arribadas or Arrivals where hundreds of turtles come at once to lay their eggs (which they can do up to 4 times a year). An Arribada was expected for either Saturday or Sunday night. During our tour we learned about the conflict in between the 100 year old turtle egg harvesting community and the 15 year old Biological refuge which was made surrounding the town. The Refuge and the community have been at odds since the beginning but have reached an easy truce as their mutually beneficial relationship with the turtles has been recognized and supported by the research done by the University of Costa Rica in the biological refuge.

                The community’s main economic activity surrounds the turtles and their eggs. The towns people keep the beaches clean and in good condition for the turtles, and help keep predators away from the baby turtles when they hatch. (since I always wondered why they biologists don’t help the turtles get to the ocean during the dangerous gauntlet that is their journey from the nest to the sea, I figured that you might as well. They have to let the baby turtles move on their own though, since it is during this time that they learn the characteristics of the beach that they will use to recognize it when they return later in life to lay their own eggs). In exchange the community members harvest the eggs that are deposited during the first 36 hours of an Arribada. Taking these eggs does not harm the population since so many turtles come that the nests of the first wave are destroyed by the later arriving turtles. Naturally each turtle lays about 100 eggs and 70%-90% of the eggs/baby turtles are lost naturally due to various environmental threats. Of that less than 1% is lost due to turtle egg harvesting. The sea turtle breeding strategy is based on sheer quantity, since they do not care for their young. As ironic as it may seem, research has proven that the relationship between the community and the turtles has actually led to an increase in the population of sea turtles. In comparison to the turtle nesting population that is 5 miles away, at a national park beach where the process is not disrupted in anyway (pro or con) by humans, is decreasing. This is a great example of sustainability and practical conservation at work.

                After our tour we had an amazing home cooked dinner and watched a video which described the specific activity of the local community with the turtle population. Only people who were born in Ostional are allowed to participate and 70% of the profits go directly to the community members who help with the various turtle activities throughout the year. The other 30% is for administrative costs, funding schools, building projects, environmental education, and a retirement fund for the elders in the community.  This is not to say that the program is perfect, it struggles with small town politics and conflicts between the locals and far away governmental authorities on conservation, but it is a very successful model and the only one of its kind.  After the video we headed to the local bar to try a Costa Rican delicacy. Turtle egg shots in a tomato sauce with a chaser of Imperial. This was one of those bucket list moments and I embraced it whole heartedly. I ate two of the raw turtle egg shots, and they were actually really good! Turtle eggs are much healthier for you than chicken eggs as they do not have any cholesterol, and I didn’t even have to feel guilty since I only ate the eggs that would have been destroyed by the other turtles during nesting.

                After we left the bar we went back to the house to begin our patrol to find the nesting turtles. We walked for about 2 hours and unfortunately only found one nesting turtle, and one that had died (we missed the Arribada by one day…). I was actually the one who found the turtle. I heard a sound and thought it was one of the family dogs who had followed us, when I shined my flash light on it I saw it was a turtle! Our biologist guide found the turtle tracks right after I called out. The turtles don’t mind onlookers, but we gave her room to choose her nesting spot and then crept up to get a closer look. Sea turtles are big, probably about the length of my arm span, and she was about 30 years old. The biologist could tell since the pattern on her shell was so smooth.  It took her about 15 min to dig the nest with her back flippers and another 15 to lay all of her eggs. During that time she was in a semi-catatonic state and didn’t mind our lights or getting petted. The biologist even pulled out one of the eggs for us to look at and demonstrated that it was both soft and hard which is why is wouldn’t break during the 1.5 foot drop into the nest. When she was done laying her eggs she filled in the nest and camouflaged, before heading back to the sea. Surprisingly the turtles move really fast for only having flippers…  After all the excitement we went back to our room to sleep, only to find more wildlife; two spiders, big tropical ones. Bravely Rebecca killed/removed them from the room, but we were all a bit wary as we fell asleep.

Ostional Beach

One of the mangroves

There was tons of cool drift wood on the beach that had been bleached by the sun!

Turtle egg shots!

A 30 year old turtle laying her eggs on the beach!