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Volunteering in Costa Rica

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 - Turtle sighting!
by Pokin Y. (in Gandoca on Mar 24, 09)
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The next morning, we wake up and learn about the other patrols.  Turns out it was a big night for Sector B as both groups talked about their experiences watching turtles.  They even caught glimpse of the big one – this giant leatherback that made a false crawl.  The first shift in Sector A also drew a blank with no turtles in sight all evening.

This morning, Nicki had arranged for us to watch a demonstration of the arts and crafts by the ladies of the village.  In an effort to seek more income, to reduce poaching and to take plastic bags out of the ocean, the industrious ladies at Ganduca learned how to fashion bags and all sorts accessories out of grocery bags.  It was great to hear their stories of how they learned to sew these bags and how the bags made it possible for them to stay in the village and support their families.  These bags can be purchased from the Widecast web site (http://www.widecast.org.)

The afternoon was beach cleaning time.  Parts of the beach were still covered with driftwood and debris.  In order to maximize beach real estate for the turtles so they could lay their eggs safely above the tide, we were tasked to remove as much garbage as we can.  Thank goodness for team work!   The group got together with rakes, chainsaws and lots of bare hands and we got to work chucking logs and coconuts in to the forest and getting rid of other loose debris.  And boy was there a lot of junk in the mess.  Among the items uncovered included one sandal, bits of plastic garbage and even a syringe!  I had a mini freakout seeing the syringe, but Nicki didn’t even blink, picked it up with her bare hands and chucked it into the garbage bag.

With the large group, we finished relatively quickly and went back to our rooms.

Third turtle patrol
This evening we were assigned to Sector B.   I was with Melody again and Erick was our guide.  This time Michelle also joined us along with Bob and Kathy plus Jeff who had missed his group by a couple of minutes.
Almost immediately upon hitting the beach we had a radio call.  Group Sector A (Alexia, Dan, Sarah) had spotted the big one coming out of the water near the boundary of Sector A/B.  It was time to hustle butt if we were to see the turtles.  Erick sets a brisk pace and we race to our destination, hearts racing in anticipation of seeing these turtles.

We arrive and the beach is deserted.  We look around, nothing is in sight.  Lo siento Marcela, Erick says as we sit down and wait.

Another 20 minutes pass and we begin our way back the other way to Sector B.  We’re on the march when suddenly Erick signals for us to stop.  And in the distance, in the surf is a dark black hulk.

It’s a leatherback turtle!

Erick walks up to scan the turtle and comes back.  The group talks, and Nicki tells Jeff, Melody and I to go up to the turtle.  We walk up near her, and abruptly Erick turns on the red light.  She’s massive.  I’ve head lots of stories about how big leatherbacks are, but seeing her was still unreal.  And by leatherback turtle sizes she was only about average.  Bit by bit as Erick moves the light, parts of her body are revealed.  Then he gestures us all to back up and move out of her way as we await her next moves.

“It’s not a good place for her to nest” says Nicki.  “It’s too wet.”   We watch in silence breathlessly as she slowly makes her way diagonal towards us.  Our heart skips a beat when it seems to me she’s turning back.  This is going to be a false crawl, I think as I squint in the dark (which by the way, makes it even harder to see I’ve discovered).  We watch in silence as the indecisive turtle moves slowly towards and away from us.  I see Erick walk towards us and talk to Nicki and Marcela.

“She’s starting to dig a hole.” Nicki announces.  “She won’t nest here but you guys can go take a look.  Back up near her as we go and watch her movements.

The process of nesting is very slow.  Leatherback turtles in the water can be quite nimble – up to 35km/hour in the water, but on land, the weight of everything means that her motions are slow and deliberate.  In dips the right flipper as she slowly pushes the sand out the way.  In dips the left flipper as she scoops more sand out.  One after another, the flippers alternate in, pushing out the sand in slow but jerky movements.

At this point our group breaks up into two patrols.  One who stays here to watch this turtle, another to look for other turtles nesting.  Since I don’t speak any Spanish, I stay behind to watch this turtle

As we’re close to surf, we can see the occasional wave washing more water into the pit, the puddle of water sloshes within the pit. Valiantly, the turtle continues to dig against the elements.  Right, left, right. The rising tide sweeps water across the entire landscape, drenching those of us caught unawares on the ground but mostly spares the one spot the turtle is digging.  I think this was the only reason she continued to dig for so long.

Finally after nearly an hour of digging, she gives up, turns around and slips back into the ocean.

We wearily get up to continue our patrol and head back towards Sector A.  Almost immediately we run into our half and they are watching a new turtle make her way across the sand.  Up past the white surf she goes, onto the dark sand.  Slowly she makes her way further up the beach shores.

“She’s going to nest.” Nicki announces.  We watch in familiar recognition as she begins to dig.  This time, she’s facing the ocean.  Right, left, right, we watch.  After long moments, Erick gets down and helps her dig.  The guides scan her tag and everyone watches anxiously for what’s to come.  At one point Erick asks Michelle if she’d like to be in charge of the egg bag, to which she agrees.  She is handed gloves, and a light is held up as she tries to get the latex gloves on in preparation for the event.

Slowly the hole widens and deepens.  I get a really great view as I’m appointed to hold the light over the hole to give Michelle more lighting.  Jeff switches on his light too to aid visibility.  As we watch with excitement, the group gets larger as our volunteer group is joined by a tourist group anxious to see the turtles.  They get too close though and our team shoos the other group away.  It’s nice to be part of the volunteer team  I think as I relish the experience.

I suddenly get a tap on my shoulder – “Are you ready to take a photo of the turtle?  We don’t want to disturb her so you may take one, maximum two.  Get ready when she’s finished laying and is about to depart.”  I’m thrilled with this opportunity and wait in even more excitement.
 
Erick beckons for Michelle to lie right down and position the bag under the turtle.  She scoots right up and holds the bag under the turtle’s tail.  “Let us know when she starts laying false eggs,” the team instructs.  As it turns out, turtles lay real eggs followed by more spherical yolkless eggs at the top of the pile to serve as decoy for scavengers such as dogs, and to enable hatchlings to crawl up to the surface more easily when they are ready.

In spurts of 4-5 at a time, we see the turtle lay her eggs.  Bit by bit the bag fills until suddenly it’s all done and they raise the bag to the surface – 103 eggs and 18 false ones!  It’s the biggest bag in recent history!  We all swarm Michelle and tell her how amazing and steady she was during the process.  And in fact, I’m glad she was chosen as I would have been quite the wired bundle if I was tasked with the job.  They hand Michelle a tape measure and she also takes the measurements of this turtle. 

As slowly as the hole was dug, the turtle begins to cover up her nest.  It was time for me to take a picture.
Turtles can’t see red, but for a good picture we were going to need to use a flash.  We debated how to minimize the psychological stress on her until Nicki got the idea to cover her head.  They take her jacket, put it over the turtles head and I quickly take two shots.  Wow!  I can’t believe we got pictures of her!  In excitement, our group chatters about Michelle’s delivery, the eggs and the photos.  By this time our patrol is nearing its end, we finish our rounds quickly and head to bed on a giddy turtle high.

I can’t believe we saw turtles!
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