Turtles | Reserva Playa Tortuga

The turtle season 2018 has begun at Playa Tortuga, Ojochal

admin — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 01:46:16 +0000

© Camille Baile

Very early the morning of the 22nd of June, after returning from a crocodile monitoring, members of the Reserva Playa Tortuga observed turtle tracks on the beach and found a nest with 91 eggs. This is the first official nest of the 2018 season.

Playa Tortuga is a nesting beach for sea turtles Lora or English Olive Ridley, although there are reports of green turtles and leatherback turtles that nest here as well.

The nesting season normally extends from June to January, having its peak in the month of October. During these months the beach is patrolled intensively every night in a period of 8 hours, covering on average a distance of 12 km, from 18:00 to 5:00 every day, in order to observe and mark the females that arrive at Playa Tortuga.

© Graciela Pulido

Reserva Playa Tortuga accepts volunteers and interns, who can participate in this project as well as others (monitoring of crocodiles, birds, mammals, etc.) and you can contact us at rptojochal@gmail.com

Research assistant from US shares her experience working at RPT

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 17:20:28 +0000

“Hello! My name is Ali Ballard I am originally from Washington State in the United States. I graduated from Washington State University in 2015. In the spring of 2016 I moved to Jekyll Island, Georgia where I was a sea turtle patrol member. When my time in Georgia was up I came down to Reserva Playa Tortuga in September 2017 as a research assistant.

Since I have been here I have been able to assist on multiple projects. One of my main responsibilities has been assisting with the crocodilian monitoring study. I have been going out once a week to assist on mark recapture of American crocodiles and spectacled caimans. I assist with capturing, biometric measurements, and habitat conditions.

I also help to take GPS points of all observed crocodilians while out on the river. I also have assisted with tracking of crocodiles and caimans with GPS loggers and downloading points to look at individual movements on the river. Another project I have assisted with was the sea turtle patrolling to help tag new sea turtles as well as collecting eggs for the hatchery. I assisted with hatchling release and excavations during the hatching season.

In September of 2016 an erosion project was started on Playa Tortuga. This year I helped to continue the study to look at sand loss on the beach. Finally, I go out three times a week walking throughout the reserve doing monkey surveys. The main objective being to see how many troops are on the reserve and observe their behavior.

I have very much enjoyed my time here at RPT. I have been able to partake in many projects and work with amazing people, while getting to educate volunteers throughout the world. It was a great six months, and I am very lucky to have been a part of these projects and the reserve!”.

Escuela Ballena students visited RPT and released turtles

admin — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 02:18:19 +0000

This week Reserva Playa Tortuga was visited by some students of Escuela Ballena, who are part of our “Era Verde” education project, which seeks to promote actions for the sustainable use of natural resources and their conservation through the environmental education integrated into the school curriculum.

As part of this environmental education project, students are taught about recycling, the importance of the oceans, etc. As a closing activity, the children had the opportunity to visit the Playa Tortuga Reserve, where they attended a talk about the projects that take place there, the conservation and protection of turtles, among other topics.

Finally, they visited the turtle hatchery, where part of the staff and volunteers of the Reserva were performing an exhumation, which consists of opening the nests and removing all biological material for further examination. Fortunately, 5 turtles were found in that nest, and they were released at sea by the same students of Escuela Ballena.

IV Festival de Tortugas Marinas in Playa Ventanas

admin — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 23:01:27 +0000

Reserva Playa Tortuga is pleased to invite the entire community to the “4to FESTIVAL DE TORTUGAS MARINAS”, which will take place Saturday, 2nd of December of this year between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm at Playa Ventanas, Osa.

The objective of this event is to promote alliances between people, projects and organizations dedicated to conservation and inform about the Conservation Projects of Sea Turtles in Osa, creating awareness about the conservation of these species and their habitats. During the event we will carry out activities related to the conservation of marine and coastal habitats, including artistic and cultural presentations, contests, talks, workshops, games, music, exhibitions, sports and sale of eco-friendly products, among others.

The Program of Environmental Education and Outreach of Reserva Playa Tortuga has the purpose of imparting education as one of the best forms for the development of the human being; in the last years it has worked through educational projects that generate tools and practical knowledge to improve the relationship with ourselves and our environment.

So that no one is left out of this party, free transportation will be offered from Palmar Norte and Ojochal to Playa Ventanas.

If you want to be part of this Festival with any informative stand, workshop or other, please contact us at the email rptojochal@gmail.com and we will send you the registration form. Participation quotas will be open until November 15.

Come and join us with your family. See you there!

2017 Turtle Season Begins in July

admin — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 23:06:26 +0000

Turtle season for Playa Tortuga will officially start on July 15th. We’ll be building the beach hatchery, which means digging, moving, and sifting beach sand. This is done to help ensure the beach sand in our hatchery is free from human debris and trash, which, unfortunately, does accumulate on our beach.

After the hatchery is finished, the beach camp is next. This is the shelter used by our staff and volunteers while out on night patrols and guarding the hatchery. Volunteers are assigned shifts to be on patrol, walk the beach and watch for turtles arriving to lay their nests.

Turtle season runs from 15th of July 2017 through the 10th of January 2018, and we will be posting updates all season long. Book your space now to volunteer: Patrol the beach, tag turtles, guard the hatchery, and help with the release of the baby turtles when they hatch! Click here for more info.

5 Things You Should Know About Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

admin — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 00:46:25 +0000

Here at Reserva Playa Tortuga, we do a lot of research on the Olive Ridley turtles that nest on our beach. Here are 5 things we think you should know about Olive Ridley sea turtles.

1. Olive ridleys, also known as lepidochelys olivacea, are classified by the IUCN as “Threatened” despite being one of the most abundant species of sea turtles. If numbers keep declining, the olive ridleys will likely be bumped to “Endangered.”

2. One of the major threats facing these sea turtles is the human impact on their habitats. Playa Tortuga is an olive ridley nesting beach. What this means is that adult females will arrive on our beach to nest and lay eggs. These nests, however, can be endangered or even destroyed, by the use of motorcycles on the beach, or by poachers that want to steal the eggs. During nesting season, the staff and volunteers at Reserva Playa Tortuga do daily and nightly beach patrols in order to help protect the nesting turtles and their nests.

3. There are also natural, environmental factors that affect the Playa Tortuga habitat, such as sand erosion. The Balso River empties into the ocean here and the ever-changing path of the river, combined with ocean tidal factors, is constantly creating shifts in the beach landscape. If a nest is endangered by these factors, staff here at Reserva Playa Tortuga will relocate it to our protected beach hatchery.

Measuring a nesting olive ridley sea turtle on Playa Tortuga

4. Adult olive ridley females generally range in size from 60 cm to 72 cm. Here at RPT, the length of the largest turtle we have recorded is 75 cm.

5. Each season at Playa Tortuga, there are approximately 4,000 baby olive ridley turtles that hatch and crawl out into the ocean. The mortality rate for baby turtles is high, however. Generally, only 1 out of every 1,000 baby turtles will survive to adulthood. This makes the conservation efforts even more vitally important.

Baby olive ridley turtles

See our Research Articles for more in-depth information on the studies conducted at Reserva Playa Tortuga.

Want to make a difference? Come volunteer at Reserva Playa Tortuga. Not only will you be helping the conservation and research efforts for the olive ridley sea turtles, you’ll be experiencing the “pura vida” lifestyle of beautiful Costa Rica.

Baby Turtles

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 00:44:22 +0000

The first turtle hatchlings on Playa Tortuga for 2016

Turtles are hatching!

It’s been a busy turtle season here at Reserva Playa Tortuga! We’ve had several nests hatch already (including one emergency hatchery – moving a nest that was endangered by the tide). It’s quite a sight, watching all the baby turtles crawl across the sand and into the water.

Want to see it for yourself? Come volunteer!