Sadly, this practice has become very common in the area, especially in Playa Hermosa and Playa Tortuga (Ojochal), for which complaints have been made and attempts have been made to inform residents, both national and foreign, placing signs in the vicinity of the beach.

It should be noted that only official vehicles can travel or access the beaches (ARTICLE 133.- Traffic Law. Prohibition of driving on the beaches), so we urge citizens to make their complaints to the local police or to 911, in case you witness this illegal practice that directly affects wildlife, and in this particular case, olive ridley turtles, an endangered species.

Despite these illegal practices, Reserva Playa Tortuga, together with local volunteers and Lifeguards, remains alert day and night, monitoring the beaches of Uvita and Ojochal, during the nesting season, in order to relocate the nests found in a safe environment, protected from poachers, and then release the little turtles in the same place where they were found. This, in order to protect these species, which year after year come to nest on our shores.

For Olive ridleys, a total of 127 nests were found in Playa Tortuga, 157 in Playa Hermosa, 7 in Dominical and one nest from Playa Ventanas, totaling 291 nests. Only 2 nests from the green sea turtles and 2 hawksbill nests were found in Playa Hermosa this season.

Including all the four beaches, nearly 20,000 turtles were released this season! The year was very successful in terms of the number of Olive ridley nests and releases. Sadly, in the case of the green ones, we had the findings of many dead adult individuals on the beaches of the Osa and the central zone of the South Pacific, probably due to red tides. Possibly, this affected the nesting of this species on our beaches this season – said Cyrielle Mayer, RPT Marine Biologist.

We appreciate both local and international volunteers who supported the work throughout this season. As well as the personnel of the RPT who remained alert and coordinated the necessary actions to carry out a management under scientific criteria, with the important participation and collaboration of the local community.

THANK YOU ALL!! SEE YOU NEXT SEASON!

This project, financed by the Costa Rica Forever Association (ACRXS), had the purpose of generating baseline scientific information on the state of conservation of the Focal Element of Management “Rocky Reefs” of the PNMA, PNISL and the RNVSPHPM, based on the application of the protocol for Marine Ecological Monitoring of Rocky Reefs and that allows the promotion of management actions that contribute to the adaptation and mitigation of climate change.

Rocky ecosystems are highly dynamic habitats, where communities and their organisms are exposed to tides, currents, waves, and even more so in the context of climate change and changing oceanographic conditions. These zones are characterized by the high energy released by waves and tidal changes that affect the distribution of the organisms that live there. Wave action and materials carried by the water, such as sand, rocks, and driftwood, affect the density of invertebrates and algae, depending on whether that side of the rock is protected or exposed to the waves. These subtidal communities are represented by various groups of organisms at different levels of the trophic web that assemble to form a complex network of interactions.

These ecosystems represent a clear opportunity for research and monitoring with a view to obtain quantifiable information that allows the construction of indicators that signal trends in the face of a changing climate scenario, and that constitutes the information base for management decision-making. In this sense, this initiative constituted an important contribution to the generation of skills and competencies in ACOPAC officials, both in terms of diving in safe conditions and the application of the protocol for monitoring rocky reefs (PRONAMEC) in the field – said Felipe Thomas, Marine biologist of RPT.

Así, se dio conocer los proyectos en los cuales la RPT está trabajando, como el monitoreo de cocodrilos y caimanes, monitoreo de rayas, proyecto de repoblamiento de arrecifes de coral y el emblemático proyecto de conservación de tortugas marinas. Además, se realizaron caminatas fotográficas, observación de aves y visitas guiadas a los senderos de la Reserva. De esta forma, pudimos entender mejor la importancia de monitorear y conocer mejor las especies en sus hábitats, como usan el espacio y las diversas amenazas existentes. 

Otra actividad muy importante para la RPT es la educación ambiental y la ciencia participativa. Las alianzas son fundamentales y la implicación de las comunidades locales, como las autoridades son fundamentales para avanzar en el camino de la conservación y el cuidado de la vida silvestre y nuestros ecosistemas. Oscar Brenes, director de la RPT, recalcó que, sin estos ecosistemas, sin esta biodiversidad, se afectaría la economía de nuestra comunidad que vive del turismo y el turismo viene aquí por la biodiversidad de Costa Rica y eso en definitiva afectaría nuestro bienestar.  

La apuesta de la RPT para fomentar estas alianzas, desde siempre ha sido el trabajo de sensibilización con los y las niñas y jóvenes de la zona. En esta línea, se presentó la experiencia de las iniciativas de educación y los campamentos de verano que acogen niños y niñas de los pueblos de alrededores en los cuales se acercan al trabajo de conservación y a aprender sobre la riqueza de su entorno. Este uno de los proyectos que la RPT está más orgullosa ya que ha visto crecer a algunos y algunas de ellas y mantener vivo este compromiso hacia la conservación y seguir involucrándose con la RPT. Un exemplo ha sido la presentación de Karolyn sobre su experiencia y trayectoria como voluntaria local en los proyectos de la RPT y quién irá a Colombia, en el marco del Simposio Internacional de Tortugas Marinas, para presentar el trabajo del grupo de jóvenes voluntarios de Ojochal en el evento de Conservación de tortugas marinas desde las comunidades organizado por RETOMALA, Red de especialistas en tortugas marinas de América Latina.  

A todos los asistentes muchas gracias por compartir con nosotros estos dos días. Hasta la próxima. 

Nota: Stéphanie Barrial 

Fotos: Felipe Thomas 

With the first year of monitoring, we have a picture of the ray’s habitat in the Térraba River. The contribution of this second year of study will be the strengthening of the baseline that allows knowing the use of habitat and generating management and conservation strategies for rays in this important ecosystem.

During the first year of monitoring we found that the only ray species captured was Styracura pacifica. All individuals captured were small, probably juveniles. Most of them captured in intertidal pools, so it is interesting to evaluate their residence during the current year. The CPUE increased in the rainy season, which suggests increasing the monitoring this season. In this way, it is important to develop training for fishermen in order to reduce the impact of individuals affected by bycatch – pointed out Graciela Pulido, Project Manager of this initiative.

The Térraba River is the largest river in Costa Rica and its mangrove swamp offers shelter and nursery areas to hundreds of fish species, including sharks and rays. Knowing the populations of rays and their distribution in the wetland is key to understanding their condition both in the wetland and in the ocean, as well as the development of future conservation strategies. This initiative financed by “beca azul” de Misión Tiburón for second time will pass to be part of normal monitoring of RPT in the future. We know that there is a need to generate knowledge in this area, which is aligned with our research objectives- pointed out Oscar Brenes, Director of RPT.

Photos and text by @f_thomas_photography

Estos días pudimos conocer en el campo como es el trabajo de la conservación y logramos reflexionar al respecto con los jóvenes. Evidenciamos las necesidades de conservación e investigación y cómo las pequeñas acciones pueden ayudar a generar un gran cambio – señaló Andrey Jiménez Chinchilla- Dirigente de la sección Wak-Tsurí.

El lugar nos parece increíble, hemos aprendido bastante, la limpieza de playa y las actividades de servicio, aprender sobre las tortugas, cocodrilos y caimanes, todo explicado de una manera sencilla y cercana – señaló Mario Ernesto Pérez Rosales (16 años).

La protección, el cuidado de la naturaleza, aprender sobre su condición y la biodiversidad. Así como entender el esfuerzo y el gran trabajo que se realiza en RPT, como la necesidad del trabajo en equipo para lograr el éxito del proceso de. conservación. La experiencia ha sido muy enriquecedora – señaló Jimena Méndez Marín (17 años).

Para el equipo de RPT ha sido muy interesante el compartir con el grupo de Scouts estos días, el conocer los distintas formas que tienen los jóvenes de relacionarse con la naturaleza, ya sea espiritual, contemplación, conexión, relajación, amor, protección, entre otros, es clave para comprender y mirar hacia el futuro en lo que ha conservación se refiere. Por otra parte, tener la oportunidad de dar a conocer el conocimiento científico de los programas de investigación entre los más jóvenes constituye una de los objetivos principales de la Reserva -señaló Felipe Thomas – Fotógrafo y Biólogo Marino de RPT.

We’d like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the following businesses and individuals who sponsored our latest Benefit Event.

Thanks to them we were able to raise $3016 that will be used by Reserva Playa Tortuga to keep working towards the conservation of sea turtles and many other different species. Muchas gracias a todos!!

• Solis Dentistry
• Citrus
• Kim Nourish
• Keira Acupuncture
• Kais Paraiso Wellness
• 5 Maes
• Dra Monica
• Space Kendra
• South Surf
• Document your Life Production Cami
• Alexandre Osteopathy
• Harriet Goudard
• Bellezas Terraba
• Mystic Sushi
• Blandon Turtle print
• Dog Sculture Micki
• Turtle Piece
• Cycy Lamp
• Metal Art
• BRI Spa Uvita
• Stam Cafe
• Terra Lodge
• Scarlett Villas
• Turtle Hat Kim
• Miranda spa service
• Cami Divine AquaStride
• Nico CPR
• Artifice Stefanie

This initiative financed by “beca azul” de Mision Tiburon aims to learn about the distribution of stingray populations, estimate their population structure and involve volunteers and local community members on the monitoring activities.

The contribution of this study will be the construction of baseline that allows the generation of management and conservation strategies for rays in this important ecosystem such as the Térraba river- pointed out Graciela Pulido, Project Manager of this
initiative.

The Térraba River is the largest river in Costa Rica and its mangrove swamp offers shelter and nursery areas to hundreds of fish species, including sharks and rays. Some of these are threatened and the generation of basic information is the first step to move towards protection. Knowing the populations of rays and their distribution in the wetland is key to understanding their condition both in the wetland and in the ocean, as well as the development of future conservation strategies.

Normally, olive ridley turtles arrive in this sector and recently there were also historical records of Pacific green turtles, so now a new species is added!

The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) nests on both the Caribbean and Pacific beaches of Costa Rica (mostly on the Osa peninsula) but its current populations are extremely small, and it is an endangered species mainly due to these threats :

the extraction of their nests

the hunt for meat

use of tortoiseshell from its shell

We look forward to continuing the good news during the 2021 turtle season. We appreciate the support of the Costa Ballena Lifeguard, park rangers, staff and volunteers from RPT and the community. And we remind you that those who wish to collaborate with night or morning monitoring at Playa Tortuga or Playa Hermosa can write to rptojochal@gmail.com or call 21013221