There are a total of seven species of sea turtles in the world among which, four of them are native Costa Rican citizens. With great agony, all of these species are on the highly critical endangered species list.
REASON FOR DECLINING POPULATION
1. Their habitats are being taken over by humans. Due to its bright lights the turtles cannot come back to the beaches that are now used by humans.
2. They are constantly getting killed and caught up, as a matter of fact 65% of them getting hooked by lines of commercial fisheries, from those caught ones 20% dies.
3. Hunting and egg poaching is coming to a slow halt. Although, it's hard to break tradition and the turtle egg is hot on the black market which is believed to raise a man's libido.
4 TYPES OF TURTLES THAT COME TO COSTA RICA'S SHORES
Olive Ridley Turtle- These are the famous turtles known for their amazing numbers. They come to the shores of Santa Rosa National Park and Ostional National Wildlife Refuge by the hundreds of thousands from July to November. In an effort to save the animals, it is legal to harvest a limited amount of their eggs, which are for sale at local markets.
Leatherback Turtle - You can see this magical creature lay her eggs with a professional tour at the Playa Grande National Marine Park from December to March. This is the most endangered sea turtle in the world. They have been around for over 65 million years, yet in the past 20 years their numbers have declined from 1100 a season to 70 a season. Plus, they come to the shores of Tortuguero National Park.
Green Turtle- The scientist that started to come to Tortuguero National Park's shores to study these creatures since 1970's realized how quickly they were declining and how important of a coastline Tortuguero was. From the 70's to the 80's their numbers fell from 15,000 to 3,000. This turtle represents the rare success of a very devoted organization - Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC). All the while, CCC fought to make this a national park, which it did in 1978. Since then the numbers have reached astounding numbers of 20,000.
Hawksbill Turtle- There are only 23,000 of these turtles left worldwide. Their main nesting site is Marino Ballena National Park from May to November with an occasional appearance in Tortuguero.
Who knows if they might not be there next year, so come and meet them!
Marina K. Villatoro, the Travel Experta, has been living in Central America - Costa Rica and Guatemala for over 10 years. She has traveled here extensively. Now loves organizing vacations to this amazing part of the world, having first hand experience of all the places with her family. Contact her for advice and to plan your perfect trip!
