Sea Turtles & Plastic Update

We’re excited to announce two new Sea Turtles & Plastic grants for coastal communities around the world. Our Sea Turtles & Plastic program provides crucial financial support for local organizations to address and benefit from the plastic waste arriving on their beaches. These two projects were funded from a grant from the Change Happens Foundation. To date, we have given out 14 of these grants, totaling more than US $70,000. These projects have collected more than 20,000 lbs of plastic waste, recycling more than 7,000 lbs and we’re just getting started!

Our newest Sea Turtles & Plastic Grantees are:

Fundação Tartaruga, Boa Vista, Cape Verde

The Cape Verde archipelago hosts the world’s third largest nesting population of loggerhead turtles. Fundação Tartaruga works on the island of Boa Vista. In 2021, more than 28,000 nests were laid on the beaches they patrol. During the sea turtle nesting season, the rangers are paid to patrol the beach, so the aim of this plastic project is to ensure that the rangers can also pursue meaningful and environmentally compatible employment during the off-season. The purpose of this grant is to support their rangers to produce products from plastic waste outside the sea turtle nesting season on Boa Vista/Cabo Verde and sell them to tourists. Additionally, the plastic problem in this area is very important, during the Sea Turtle Week last June, in one event beach cleanup, they removed almost 3,500 kg (more than 7,500 lbs) of plastic from the beach. Rangers from the local group “Onze Estrelas” are collecting suitable plastic waste on nesting beaches, shredding it, putting the granules into the injection machine, heat it, and create new items like key-chains in the shape of a sea turtle, shark or penguin. With a grant of US $5,000 we are supporting the acquisition of a motor-powered granulator machine for this project.

Turtle caught in discarded plastic fishing gear on Cape Verde. Credit Fundacao Tartaruga.

Conservation des Espèces Marines, Grand-Béréby, Ivory Coast     

Since 2014, Conservation des Espèces Marines has been carrying out a community management project for the protection of sea turtles. CEM has managed to raise awareness among local communities, drastically reduce the human threat to sea turtles, and involve local communities in preservation activities along a 30 km beach located west of Grand-Béréby (Mani Beach -Kablake). This project aims to employ 10 people from Grand Bereby and the towns of Mani, Pitiké and Kablaké to collect the large amounts of plastic waste found on nesting beaches. The collected waste will be classified by type and sent to Abidjan, where the only company in the country that recycles plastic waste is located, called Recyplast. This project will make it possible to recycle plastic fishing nets that have accumulated mainly in rock reefs for many years. It will also allow recycling of other kinds of plastics that accumulate on beaches such as polypropylene, bottles, etc. which come mostly from fishing boats. With US $5,000, CEM will collect 1 ton of regular plastic waste and up to 5 tons of plastic nets. 10 people will directly benefit from the project, getting paid to do the cleanups.

Volunteers clean up a beach in Ivory Coast. Photo credit Conservation des Especes Marines.

August & September Billion Baby Turtles Update

 In August and September, we gave a total of US$ 14,000 or our Billion Baby Turtles program, we supported 4 projects in 3 different countries. So far this year, we have supported 32 partners with a total of US $148,500 in 16 different countries, protecting an estimated 780,000 hatchlings, bringing us to more than 9 million turtles saved to date.

Turtle Foundation, Sipora and Selaut Besar, Indonesia

Sipora

On the island of Sipora in West Sumatra, part of the Mentawai Islands, in 2017, a completely unknown to science nesting 8 km beach of the endangered leatherback turtle was discovered: Buggeisiata. Over decades, the local community used to hunt nesting females and take the eggs for their consumption. With these practices, the number of nesting females has been decimated but since Turtle Foundation ishas been protecting this beach, the local community has respected the life of nesting females. Thus, even in a low number of nests every season, the protection of this area is very important to protect the female turtles.  Last season, they protected 32 leatherback nests, 4 hawksbill nests and 5 nests of olive ridleys. With US $3,000, SEE Turtles supported this project that protects not only eggs and hatchlings but also adult females from being killed. 

Green turtle hatchling from Indonesia. Photo credit Turtle Foundation

Selaut Besar

Selaut Besar is an important nesting site for green turtles in Sumatra/Indonesia. Last season, Turtle Foundation protected 328 nests of green turtles and 18 of leatherback. The island is also sporadically visited by hawksbill turtles, so that a total of three different species of sea turtles nest on this unique island. Turtle Foundation is hiring and training staff from local communities and each member of the Selaut team is from Simeulue. Some of the team members were hunters themselves but now through participation in the program, they are aware of the importance of the sea turtles and have become sea turtle guardians. They carry this awareness with them into their communities and have been able to raise awareness of the project through community engagement. Our Billion Baby Turtles program is supporting this new project on this Island with US$ 5,000 for this upcoming season. 

Releasing hatchlings in the Ivory Coast. Photo credit: Conservation des Especes Marines

Conservation des Espèces Marines, Grand-Béréby, Ivory Coast     

Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM) has been active for more than a decade in sea turtle protection activities, focusing on approximately 30 km of beaches west of Grand-Béréby. CEM is a local nonprofit association of the Ivory Coast and is composed almost entirely by members of local communities. The field activities are carried out by local eco-guards. Three marine turtle species nest on the beach West of Grand Béréby: leatherback, olive ridleys, and green turtles. Last season, they protected 679 olive ridley nests, 60 green turtles, and 54 leatherbacks. Billion Baby Turtles is supporting this organization for the first time this year with US $3,000 expecting to help at least 1,000 baby turtles to get to the ocean.

Olive ridley turtle returning to the ocean in Mexico. Photo credit: Palmarito Turtle Camp

Palmarito Turtle Camp, Oaxaca, Mexico 

The Palmarito Project has been operating since 2005. They manage a nesting beach for leatherback, black, and olive ridley turtles. They also run the Dark Nights Environmental Education Program, to provide information to people who live on the beachfront, about the importance of Palmarito for the reproduction of sea turtles, threats, and alternatives to contribute to their conservation and the Sea turtle monitoring program, where they have confirmed the presence of the hawksbills throughout the year. Last season they protected 284 nests of olive ridley turtles, 120 green turtles, and 5 leatherbacks, helping to get to the ocean more than 34,000 baby turtles. Billion Baby Turtles supported this partner with US$ 3,000 helping to save more than 4,500 baby turtles. 

Inclusivity Fund Profile - Paola Castillo

With US $2,400, SEE Turtles supported Equipo Tora Carey (ETC), based in El Jobo, Costa Rica with a grant from Our Sea Turtle Inclusivity Fund. ETC is a local organization working protecting sea turtles in 5 different beaches around the Santa Elena Gulf, located along the country’s northern Pacific coast.

Hi, my name is Paola Castillo, I work for the NGO Equipo Tora Carey, and I am in charge of the administration and coordination of the patrolmen, as well as the database of our project. We depend 100% on donations and volunteers and this grant for my salary from the Sea Turtle Inclusivity Fund will cover a whole year and is a great help to both me and the organization.

Paola with her family in El Jobo, Costa Rica

I have known about ETC since it started butI joined the group shortly after it started, when my husband started as a patrolman working on the nesting beaches. A few months later, I started with managing the turtle database and working with the treasurer of the organization. Now I also coordinate their patrol schedule, when there are volunteers with us and try to make sure their experience is good. In a few words I’m the coordinator of the organization. But until now there was very little or no pay for my position; this is the first time Equipo Tora will have a full-time local resident to help coordinate our programs.

ETC positively impacts our community because now there are more families that are associated with the environment and more families who recycle when before it was hardly seen. Our turtles are also more protected since continuous patrols have reduced the taking of turtle nests and therefore increases the probability that our turtles will continue to return. My favorite part is knowing that I am doing something that supports my community and our children will have a better environment in the future since we are constantly cleaning our beaches. Even my son is now patrolling the beaches with his father, so my whole family is strongly involved with conservation in our community.

About Equipo Tora Carey

Being a community-based project, we believe in the deep connection between conservation and local communities; conservation cannot be fulfilled without an active local community and vice versa. This is why we want and need to work together with the local community, not without or even against them! Our objective is to mobilize and empower these locals – the most important resource at the project’s disposal – in order to fight coastal-marine destruction!

Our three pillars of work are conservational effort, research and education. With patrolling our beaches every night and cleaning our beaches weekly, we not only actively protect nesting turtles and their eggs from being poached, but also gather a lot of valuable data. With this information, we try to predict the marine animals’ behaviour in order to protect them more efficiently. Finally, education is our way to raise the awareness of conservation in the community, especially among the children, to ensure a lasting change of habits.

Learn More:

• Equipo Tora Carey website

• Join us for a visit to volunteer with Equipo Tora Carey in Costa Rica

July Billion Baby Turtles Update

July was a busy month for our Billion Baby Turtles program, we supported 7 projects in 5 different countries with US $30,000. This month we supported two of the most important nesting beaches in Costa Rica with some of the most important nesting populations for Green and Ridley turtles  (Tortuguero and Nancite respectively). With these grants we hope to help almost a million baby turtles to get to the big blue this month alone!

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Tortuguero (Costa Rica) 

Sea Turtle Conservancy has conducted research and monitoring Tortuguero Beach since the mid-1950s. After traveling to Tortuguero to study the migratory and reproductive behavior of sea turtles, world-renowned scientist Dr. Archie Carr found that turtles at Tortuguero were being harvested by the thousands. Unfortunately, after a long recovery that started in the 1970s, this green turtle population is showing the first signs of decline. The reasons are not well understood, but STC is undertaking studies to assess the impacts of predation, illegal harvesting (both at Tortuguero and abroad), impacts from climate change, and artificial lighting.  For a second year, SEE Turtles supported this project with US $5,000 through our Billion Baby Turtles grants, with this grant we are helping to protect around 500,000 baby turtles to get to the big blue!

Reef Guardians, Lankayan Island (Malaysia) 

Since 2004, this project has protected hawksbill and green turtles nesting on Lankayan Island, in Malaysia. Since then, the annual nesting increased gradually from 138 nests in 2004 to 833 2021. Last season they protected 403 nests of greens and 124 nests of hawksbill turtles with a total of 30,763 hatchlings of green turtles and 12,311 of hawksbills. With US $3,000, Billion Baby Turtles supported this upcoming season we expect to help 12,000 baby turtles to get to the ocean. 

A Reef Guardians ranger prepares to bury a nest of eggs in their hatchery on Lankayan Island. Photo credit: Reef Guardians

SOS Nicaragua, Los Brasiles (Nicaragua)

Since 2019, Sos Nicaragua has been independently implementing conservation efforts on the island of Los Brasiles, starting a permanent sea turtle protection programme that extends to all recorded nesting species. They have developed a conservation model in harmony with turtle egg harvesters where raising local awareness, protecting critical sea turtle habitats and generating new sources of financial sustainability for local families in long-term project goals. The average number of nests protected annually usually exceeds 100, mostly nests of olive ridley turtles. Billion Baby Turtles has been supporting this project since 2017; this year with US $2,000 we hope to help at least 1,500 baby turtles. 

Guanacaste Dry Forest Foundation, Nancite Beach (Costa Rica)

Playa Nancite is the second most important nesting site for olive ridley sea turtles in Costa Rica. The arribadas of these turtles generally result in between 20,000 and 116,000 nests each year. Green turtles also nest at Nancite beach, but in much smaller numbers (between 20 and 65 nests per year). The beach is located in a very remote part of this Area of Conservation Guanacaste, then, it is wild and pristine, with the only human traffic consisting of researchers, their assistants, and sometimes, park visitors and students. Turtle biologist Luis Fonseca has been studying the sea turtles of this area for more than a decade. His sea turtle monitoring project is integral to understanding population trends over time and in designing management and conservation actions that promote the recovery of sea turtle populations in this part of Costa Rica. With US $4,000 SEE Turtles supported Luis Fonseca research at this important beach and expected to help around 400,000 baby turtles to get to the sea. 

Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative, Conflict Island Atoll, Milne Bay (Papua New Guinea)

CICI’s ‘Safe Habitats’ program employs Indigenous Conservation Rangers, training them on marine turtle populations, importance, and conservation techniques. The ranger’s presence along the Conflict Islands help to make local communities aware and decrease the number of illegal collectors from surrounding islands. Furthermore, to increase hawksbill hatchling success, they also collect ‘high risk’ eggs that are either below the high tide line or on a beach accessed by illegal collectors and relocate them in their hatchery on the main island of Panasesa. This project started in 2016 with just 4 local rangers but now they have 14, and this year they are seeking to employ a further 4 women to the team. This project protects green and hawksbill turtles, every year they help around 28,000 hatchlings to get to the ocean. For the fourth year in a round, Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US $8,000.

Green turtle returning to the ocean in Papua New Guinea. Photo credit: Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative

Ashanti Conservation Initiative. Ghana

This is a new project born in 2021 due to the covid-19 outbreak that disrupted the conservation sector in Ghana, especially with income losses and reduced survey/monitoring activities. This project seeks to increase the awareness and empower of local communities and support the rehabilitation of key sea turtle nesting sites in the Western region of Ghana. The project ensures participation of local communities and the information gathered will provide valuable insight into the relative abundance per species, distribution, and diversity of sea turtles. With US $3,000 Billion Baby Turtles supported this to protect olive ridleys, green, and leatherback nesting turtles and save more than 4,000 baby turtles.

Comunidad Protectora de Tortugas de Osa, Osa Peninsula (Costa Rica)

This organization protects primarily olive ridleys and green turtles at 3 beaches (Playa Carate, Pejeperro, and Río Oro). This is one of the most biodiverse areas in Costa Rica. Since 2019 Tortugas de Osa monitoring and research projects offer the opportunity to involve different local actors, volunteers and conservation organizations, to contribute to the protection and monitoring of marine turtles. This is a community-led conservation association that aims to integrate local people in the conservation of the highly biodiverse Osa Peninsula, and more specifically the busy sea turtle nesting beaches of Rio Oro and Carate. They focus on local communities in rural areas where individuals are looking to make positive change away from mining and hunting inside Corcovado National Park. With US $5,000, Billion Baby Turtles supported this project and hopes to help to protect more than 60,000 baby turtles get to the ocean this year. 

Sea Turtles & Plastic Program Update

In the last two months, our Sea Turtles & Plastic program has made tremendous progress. We gave 14 small grants (US $6,000) in 8 different countries for beach cleanups during Sea Turtle Week. We also gave two year-long beach cleanup grants for a total of US $7,000 in June and 5 recycling grants for a total of US $23,000. The cleanup grants were donated by our partner Dots Eco and the recycling grants were thanks to our donor World Nomads Footprints grogram along with donor Next Earth and our Sustainable Travel Sponsors.

Sea Turtle Week

With the support of our partner Dots.Eco, we were able to support beach cleanups in different countries during the upcoming Sea Turtle Week. With $6,000 we were able to  support 14 different organizations in 8 different countries with an estimated of more than 54,000 pounds of trash taken out from marine turtle nesting beaches. 

The projects / beaches supported were:

• Fundação Tartaruga. Boa Esperança, Boa Vista, Cabo Verde

• Kiunga Turtle Conservation Group. Kiwayu, Kenya

• Grobios A.C. Bahias de Papanoa Estero Colorado Santuario Playa Piedra de Tlacoyunque, Guerrero, Mexico

• Kiunga Community wildlife association, Lamu, Kenya

• Greening Forward Cameroon. Isobe-Idenau Cameroon

• Agbo-Zegue. Togolese littoral (Site 1, 2 and 3 in Lomé - Togo)

• Center For Community Enhancement Cameroon, Buea- Southwest Region Cameroon

• Kenyan Youth Biodiversity Network. Diani beach, Kenya

• Ecological Conservation Puerto Rico. Arecibo, Puerto Rico

• Marereni Biodiversity Conservancy. Marereni beach, Kilifi county, North coast, Kenya

• Sustainable Ocean Alliance Cameroon. Batoke, Limbe Cameroon

• Centro de Protección y Conservación de la Tortuga Marina "ECOMAR-UAGro". Llano Real, Benito Juárez, Guerrero, Mexico

• Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD). Bundu beach, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

• Barra de la Cruz, Oaxaca, México

Volunteers participating in a Sea Turtle Week beach cleanup in Togo, Africa run by the AGBO-ZEGUE organization.

COASTS (Costa Rican Alliance for Sea Turtle Conservation & Science), Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge (REGAMA), Costa Rica

COASTS is mainly removing plastic from the mouth of the Rio Sixaola and adjacent stretch of beach during the sea turtle nesting season. The river carries a lot of plastic debris out into the ocean, which is then washed back onto the beach. The adjacent beach (Gandoca) is an important nesting ground for leatherback and hawksbill turtles. Because of rising sea levels worldwide, the part of the beach that is suitable for nesting is disappearing into the ocean and the rest is drowning in plastic. They have started to remove plastic during the past two nesting seasons and have pulled a total of 2117 kg (more than 2 metric tons) of plastic so far. Due to the inaccessibility of the river mouth and its large plastic deposits, they need to charter a boat that can help us transport the bags full of collected plastic back to the village (5+km) for processing. We supported COASTS with US $5,000 to support their beach cleanups for the next 2 years. 

Palawan Biodiversity Conservation Advocates. Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines

This project engages in 5 land-based clean-up activities in selected coastal barangays in Dumaran Island, Palawan that are known to be nesting sites of sea turtles. Members of the communities where the activity will be conducted will be the main participants in the clean-ups with other stakeholders who are willing to volunteer for the events.  This project is estimated to collect around 250 kg (550 lbs) per month in these beaches. Our plastic recycling program supported this project with US $2,500.

Plastic Recycling Grants

Kishoka Youth Community Based Organization, Mombasa Kenya

Sea turtle populations in Kenya are declining due to degradation of critical nesting habitats with plastic marine litter. This is enhanced by the growing population associated with increasing human activities in the area. This project is an expansion of Kishoka’s plastic management project currently taking place in Mtongwe. It will be conducted in Likoni sub-county with a shoreline of about 25km with an aim of restoring five critical (Denyenye, Pungu Villa, Timbwani, Shelly Beach, and Mtongwe) turtle nesting beaches in the area. The students and community members will be trained and mentored through waste segregation processes, creation of artefacts like bangles, stools etc. and also connected with recyclers like Kwale Plastic Plus to purchase their excess plastics, rubber and glasses collected. The project will establish plastic collection points in each site and provide the community members with basic clean-up materials and transport for their wastes besides marketing their created products. Capacity building activities will be provided through interactive indoor lectures and active practical sessions in the field. Education and awareness materials (banners, charts, brochures) will also be produced and shared with them to enhance their environmental ambassadorial activities. Creation of artefacts and sell of the excess litter will boost the local communities’ household income and creating an alternative livelihood than the current reliance on tourism and fishing activities.

Volunteers with Kishoka after a beach cleanup in Africa

Wildlife Conservation Association. Nosara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

This project aims to consolidate the existing recycling efforts of the community of Nosara. By selling products and offering educational workshops, they will promote a circular economy in the area, increasing awareness, helping manage waste from development and creating new and innovative sources of income to support conservation. At the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, solid waste and recycling have been collected by a community-based initiative in the area since 2008. Currently, more than 6.5 tons of PET and HDPE plastic are collected and recycled annually. This project will benefit sea turtle conservation by keeping plastic out of the oceans and consolidating local initiatives to create a more sustainable and circular economy with local plastic waste. By giving a percentage of sales to the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, they will further support sea turtle conservation by providing additional resources to carry out and enforce conservation in the area. Our plastic recycling program supported this project with US $4,500.

Comunidad Protectora de Tortugas de Osa (COPROT). Carate, Rio Oro and Pejeperro beaches, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

COPROT has been our partner for several years through our Billion Baby Turtles program. Now we are happy to be able to extend our support to their beach cleanups and recycling program. Their goal is to link sea turtle conservation research with community engagement and sustainable practices. Additionally to the turtle monitoring and awareness, with this grant they plan to support the next step in the development of their plastic project: to provide a salary for a local employee, to expand their recycling center, and to host an educational workshop to familiarize the community with plastics and their threats to sea turtles and ecosystem health. Our plastic recycling program supported this project with US $4,500.

Osa Conservation. Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

The Osa Conservation Sea Turtle program monitors and protects two important nesting beaches stretching 6.5 km in the Southern Pacific of Costa Rica. High predation rates by native and domestic wildlife, nest poaching, plastic pollution, and sea level rise and erosion are the main threats at these nesting beaches. Along with their turtle monitoring and hatchery program they are also executing regular beach clean ups and plastic recycling workshops with local, national, and international volunteer participation. With our Plastic Recycling grant of US $4,500 they will create light guardians (light covers to reduce light pollution) from recycled plastics to implement in hotels close to nesting beaches, to turn plastics into “second-chance souvenirs” to provide extra income for local people, and to increase awareness on plastic pollution and implementing alternatives to single-use plastics.

Centro de Rescate de Especies Marinas Amenazadas (CREMA). Nandayure, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

In 2015, CREMA began a sea turtle research and conservation project in coastal communities from the canton of Nandayure, Guanacaste in Costa Rica. In this area 4 different species of sea turtles nest. Local communities have supported research initiatives and volunteer programs as a way to activate the economy and tourism in the area. However, the lack of political will and the growing urban development on the coasts of Costa Rica has caused the beaches of Nandayure to become affected by large amounts of both recyclable and non-recyclable wastes, which directly affect the adult turtles that frequent these beaches, as well as development of hatchlings in nests. Taking this into account, since 2019 CREMA began a collaboration with a community initiative led by Aníbal Cortés García, a community leader in charge of collecting, classifying, and sending solid wastes from 14 coastal communities to recycling centers. In this way they have managed to carry out more than 100 beach clean ups, collecting and transporting to collection centers almost 7 tons of waste. Our plastic recycling program supported this project with US $4,500.

Billion Baby Turtles Update - June 2023

June was an exciting month with all the events (virtual and in person) celebrating our beloved sea turtles. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 

But the usual work protecting sea turtles also continues, as well as our Billion Baby Turtle Grants. June was also a great month because we were able to support 3 past partners with 4 different projects and a new partner with 3 projects in 3 different countries in Africa with a total of US$ 31,500. So far, this year we have given US$ 94,500 to support nesting beaches. 

Latin America Sea Turtles (LAST): Cahuita & Moin Beaches, Costa Rica 

Since 2000 ANAI and LAST nonprofit organizations have worked  for the protection and conservation of nesting females and baby sea turtles in Cahuita Beach. SEE Turtles president Brad Nahill helped to launch the first season of this work working for ANAI. During the last decade it was estimated that 90% of the nests at this beach were lost by wildlife predation, illegal egg collectors,  or washed out by the ocean. Cahuita’s nest population represents one of the highest numbers reported for Caribbean hawksbill turtles in Costa Rica. For this season, through our Billion Baby Turtles program supported this project with US $3,500 to help continuing the protection of this beach

Leatherback hatchlings on Moin Beach. Credit: Latin American Sea Turtles

From March to September Moin beach is threatened by illegal human actions during nesting season (commercial trade with eggs, meat and turtle shell is common in this area). Without protection, almost all the nests would be taken and many adult turtles would be killed for their meat as well. We supported this project with US $4,000 to keep protecting adults and baby turtles to get back to the ocean.

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Ayotlcalli A.C., Playa Blanca, Playa Larga, Barra de Potosi, Guerrero, Mexico

Campamento Tortuguero Ayotlcalli was founded in September of 2011 with the purpose of protecting and help increase the population of three species of marine turtles that nest within 15 kilometers of beaches that include Playa Blanca, Playa Larga, and Barra de Potosi in Zihuatanejo. This nonprofit organization works with the assistance of several local and international volunteers who performed various activities such-as, night patrols searching for nests, once located, the eggs are relocated into the hatchery, pertinent data is recorded and when the hatchlings are born, they are safely released into their vast new home.

A very important area of target is environmental education. For that reason, the implementation of diverse programs has been developed. Visitors and tourists attend an educational presentation that addresses the impact of plastic disposal in the oceans and marine life. Workshops are presented to fishermen and hotel employees. “Warriors of the Rainbow '' is a summer program where local children attend two weeks of intense environmental education and also integrates other educational areas. Billion Baby Turtles supported Ayotlcalli with US$ 3,500, helping to protect the 3 different species that nest on these beaches (olive ridleys, leatherbacks, and black turtles) and more than 15,000 baby turtles.

Olive ridley hatchling: Credit Ayotlcalli

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Chelonia, Playa Grande, Puerto Rico.

Chelonia group is in charge of monitoring and documenting the nesting seasons of the leatherback turtle in Playa Grande El Paraíso during the last ten years. It is also in charge of documenting and monitoring the hawksbill nesting season on the islands of Mona and Culebra in Puerto Rico. Billion Baby Turtles supported this program with US$ 500 to keep record of the number of nests in this area. 

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Réseau des Acteurs et Professionnels de la Sauvegarde des Tortues Marines en Afrique Centrale (RASTOMA - Central Africa Marine Turtle Network)

RASTOMA acts on the scale of the Central African sub-region because this is the minimum scale for effective action on marine turtles, which are migratory species. RASTOMA promotes conservation carried out by local communities and develops Income Generating Activities to ensure the sustainability of actions in the field. It also develops synergies between network members and strengthens their capacity, influence and impact on marine turtles and their habitats in Central Africa and beyond.

RASTOMA Cameroon

Cameroon hosts 4 species of marine turtles that nest and forage along its coastline (hawksbill,  green, leatherback and olive ridley turtles). These species are facing intense anthropogenic pressures such as eggs and females taken, bycatch, etc. This project aims to contribute to the reduction of these threats by engaging local people in securing nests and nesting beaches, training in the release of accidentally caught turtles and educating local communities on the need to preserve marine turtles. RASTOMA and partners are already working with 3 experienced beach patrollers on the site. They will identify and train 7 additional beach patrollers. The 2-day practical training will focus on species identification, biometry, nest and bycatch monitoring, education and sensitization techniques, and release of by-caught alive or stranded individuals. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US$ 10,000 to help them grow this amazing project. 

RASTOMA Gabon

The coastline of Gabon is 950 km long and is an important nesting site for three species of marine turtles in Central Africa: olive ridley, leatherback, and green turtles. This project aims to reduce threats affecting sea turtles and nests by conducting beach monitoring and nest transfer to the hatchery in the Gamba protected area complex (13 km). Regular patrols are carried out from October to March at night and in the morning on this beach. During this period, all turtles encountered are measured and all nests are recorded, turtle's tracks and nests are disguised to avoid illegal taking. Exposed or endangered nests are transferred to a hatchery. Billion Bay Turtles is supporting this project with US$ 5,000 for this upcoming season. 

RASTOMA Democratic Republic of Congo

Five species of marine turtles occur along the Atlantic coast of Democratic Republic of Congo including green, leatherback, hawksbill, olive ridley and loggerhead turtles. These species are threatened by poaching, bycatch and intentional by-catches combined with coastal erosion which damages nests and nesting habitat of marine turtles. The project intends to employ the local communities to protect nesting females and eggs to ensure the sustainability of nesting sites in the RDC. For this season we supported this project with US $5,000.

Sea Turtle Week Wrap

Sea Turtle Week 2023 was a huge success and we wanted to thank everyone who participated. It was amazing to see so many people around the world celebrate sea turtles. Here are some of the highlights from this year:

Volunteers with Agbo Zeque’s Sea Turtle Week beach cleanup in Togo

• 100 new Sea Turtle Week partners from around the world, bringing our total to more than 250 participating organizations.

• At least 8.4 million people reached across all platforms.

• 50+ beach cleanups for the Global Ocean Cleanup that helped to clean up tens of thousands of lbs of trash and involved thousands of volunteers.

• Our Photo Contest received 392 photos from 249 photographers of the 7 turtle species.

• Our Children's Art Contest received 194 pieces of children's artwork from 22 countries.

• Our Scientist of the Year Contest had 18 scientist nominees from 10 countries.

• New children's lessons, coloring sheets, and other resources and tons of new graphics created by our interns.

• We created a new Sea Turtle Week YouTube series with 5 fun episodes.

April & May Billion Baby Turtles Update

It has been a busy few months helping community organizations protect important turtle nesting beaches around the world. Many of our partners are in full swing in their seasons for the next couple of months.

During April we provided a total of US $20,500 to our partners through our Billion Baby Turtles program to turtle nesting beaches and $2,400 for one Inclusivity Fund grant to create a coordinator post for a woman from the community of El Jobo in Costa Rica working with our partner Equipo Tora Carey. In May, Billion Baby Turtles supported 4 different projects in Indonesia, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Cuba with US $23,500. So far this year, we have provided $73,000 for this program in 2023, helping to save an estimated 230,000 hatchlings.

June is the month of Sea Turtle Week and we are very excited with lots of fun things during the best week of the year! If you haven’t, please, check all them out here: seaturtleweek.com

BILLION BAY TURTLES GRANTS

Provita, Paria Gulf, Venezuela

Provita has protected marine turtles in Venezuela for almost 2 decades. During the 2022 season Provita protected 39 hawksbill nests, from 5 weekly patrolled beaches from April to September. They were able to maintain the illegal nest collection at 5% (7 nests), the most important threat in the area. The total number of baby hawksbills protected were 9,226, 27% more than in 2021. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US $4,000

Equipo Tora Carey, El Jobo, Costa Rica

Equipo Tora Carey (ETC) was created as the result of a successful cooperation between fishermen, local tourism operators and biologists in protecting sea turtles around Punta Descartes in 2015. In the present, local residents patrol 5 different beaches every night. SEETurtles has partnered with ETC since 2018, they protect around 250 nests of olive ridley, black and sporadic hawksbill nests. With US $2,500 this season, Billion Baby Turtles supports the protection of around 3,500 baby turtles. 

Ecosystem Impact, Bangkaru Island, Indonesia

This nonprofit organization works in Bankaru Island protecting especially green turtles and sporadic nesting leatherbacks. In addition to the protection of nesting turtles, Ecosystem Impact develops law enforcement capacity, campaign and advocacy work, community awareness, rangers training and social media education, all of these programs have as a goal the increase of global awareness of the conservation of marine turtles and other wild species included in the Bangkaru Project. With US$ 10,000 our Billion Baby Turtles program supported Ecosystem Impact for this upcoming season. With this, they may protect more than 11,000 baby turtles.

Photo courtesy Ecosystem Impact / Alex Westover

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Panama

After more than 20 years of sea turtle research in Bocas del Toro Province, Anne and Peter Meylan formed a partnership with STC in 2003 to monitor increasing nesting hawksbills along the Bocas coast (covering ~50 km of beach in recent years). The area of concentrated work by the Meylans has been three important nesting beaches: Small Zapatilla Cay, Big Zapatilla Cay (both since 2003), and Playa Larga (since 2006), all of which lie completely within the boundaries of the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (BINMP). In the last 8 years and thanks to the protection of the area, the number of nests have been increasing from 688 in 2014 to 1104 last in 2021. With US$ 4,000 Billion Baby Turtles supported the protection of at least 10,000 baby hawksbills. 

Yayasan Penyu Laut Indonesia /Indonesia Sea Turtle Foundation, Pesemut Island, Indonesia

Since 1999 ISTF has done nesting beach conservation and eggs protection for critically endangered hawksbills as well as green turtles at Presemut Island in Indonesia. Most of the work is focused on preventing illegal nest collection and predation. During the 2022 season Billion Baby Turtles is supporting this project with US $10,000. Last season with the same amount they were able to protect 902 nests of hawksbill and 726 of  green turtles and helped to get into the ocean 40,819 hawksbill and 14,385 green baby turtles.

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Soropta, Panama 

This project is to address on-going threats facing the leatherback population at Soropta Beach, Panama, while carrying out an in-situ research and recovery program. The 14-km Beach hosts between 200 – 1,200 leatherback nests per year, making it one of the most densely nested beaches for this species in the region. Unfortunately, illegal hunting of leatherback nests remains an issue at Soropta, due to its isolated location, relative ease of access and cultural tradition of sea turtle egg and meat consumption in the area. For this season Billion Baby Turtles supports this project with US $5,000 helping to get into the big blue more than 5,000 baby leatherbacks. 

Photo courtesy Sea Turtle Conservancy

Vida Marina: Puerto Rico

The Sea Turtle Project of Western Puerto Rico is one of the projects operated by Vida Marina through the Center for Ecological Restoration and Conservation of the University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla. This group is in charge of monitoring the beaches for sea turtle activity all year round. The program staff monitors beaches for nesting activity, performs night-time watches, to tag and measure female leatherback turtles, using metal and pit tags, and performs nest inventories. With US $5,000 our Billion Baby Turtles program is estimated to help with the protection of at least 10,000 baby turtles.  

Ocean Foundation: Guanahacabibes National Park, Cuba 

Since 1998 the Ocean Foundation’s Cuba Marine Research and Conservation Program (CMRC) has built strong scientific collaboration and conservation programs between Cuba, the United States, and neighboring countries that share marine resources. Eight beaches are patrolled during the nesting and hatchling seasons (May to October) in Guanahacabibes Peninsula. As for green turtle nesting population, it is the second largest of the Cuban archipelago and also exhibits high levels of hatching success. Billion Baby Turtles support this organization with US $3,000 for this season, helping approximately 18,000 baby turtles to get to the ocean.

February & March Partner Update

We’re back with our first update of 2023. So far this year, we have provided new grants to our partners through our Billion Baby Turtles, Sea Turtles & Plastic programs. In total, we have provided $29,000 in 5 grants to turtle nesting beaches, one plastic cleanup program, and support for our Sea Turtle Inclusivity Fund recipients to attend the International Sea Turtle Symposium.

In March we participated in the International Sea Turtle Symposium in Cartagena Colombia. It was the first in-person international symposium since 2019 and it was great to meet many of our turtle friends, partners, and learn about many projects around the world. In collaboration with our partner Fundación Tortugas del Mar based in Colombia, we provided to all the participants with a map of shops that had committed to avoid any turtleshell product in their stores.

During the symposium we were very active: Our president, Brad Nahill, gave the keynote talk during the opening ceremony, co-chaired the Conservation, Management, and Policy session, and participated in a round table on the illegal wildlife trade. Our program director, Adriana Cortes gave a talk during the RETOMALA (Latin America Network) about all our SEE Turtles Programs; an oral presentation during the general meeting about our main programs and achievements of the past years as organization, and was also co-chair of the Nesting Biology session. Bethany had two oral presentations during the general meeting, one regarding the results of her master work and a second one about our Sea Turtle Week.

FEBRUARY

Turtle Love, Playa Tres, Costa Rica

Turtle Love runs a community-based conservation project working to protect sea turtles nesting at Playa Tres, the second most important nesting beach for green turtles in Costa Rica, in addition to supporting leatherback and hawksbill turtle nesting. With 241 patrols carried, 154 nests of green, 25 of leatherback and 6 of hawksbill turtles were relocated and the rest left in situ. Despite the team efforts, 31% of the nests in situ and 10% of the relocated nests were illegally taken. 

Photo: Turtle Love

During the season 2022, 1,085 nests of green turtles, 75 of leatherbacks and 27 of hawksbills and approximately 103,603 of green, 3,800 of hawksbills, and 3,069 leatherback hatchlings were protected in Playa Tres. With US $ 10,000 Billion Baby Turtles plans to support the protection of around 70,000 baby turtles this year over two grants. We would like to add that at the end of the season, last November, the field station of Turtle Love suffered a fire, resulting in the loss of all the equipment and the house. We provided additional support to replace some of the lost equipment.

Ocean Spirits, Grenada

Ocean Spirits was established in 1999 with the primary mission to conserve the marine environment and associated biodiversity via education, research, and community development. In collaboration with key stakeholders, Ocean Spirits leads conservation efforts for leatherback sea turtles, critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles, and endangered green sea turtles through preservation of nesting and foraging sites and alleviation of local threats and pressures. With US$6,000 we support this project and expect to protect at least 12,000 endangered baby hawksbill and baby leatherbacks. 

Photo: Kate Charles / Ocean Spirits

MARCH

The Tetepare Descendants’ Association (TDA), Solomon Islands

The TDA have been conserving critically endangered leatherback turtles at two of the most important nesting beaches in the Solomon Islands since 2003. Prior to this all turtle eggs and any nesting females encountered on the beach were eaten and no hatchlings had been seen by any villagers under the age of 50. Even after the harvesting stopped, most eggs were either eaten by monitor lizards or washed out by waves, so now hatchlings only emerge from nests relocated to safe hatcheries.

Nesting beaches are now patrolled nightly during the main nesting season (Nov-Feb) and occasionally in the off-season(June-August) and trained villagers are paid an incentive of SBD $350 (US$35) for every relocated nest that hatches 60 days later. Many of these funds are typically provided by ecotourists to the remote communities but tourism has totally ceased (due to Covid19) for the past 2 years and turtle monitors have not been paid at all since June 2022. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US $2,000 from our Emergency Funds in order to continue their work and save approximately 500 hatchlings. 

PAMALi, Indonesia

Pamali Indonesia is a nonprofit organization working on sea turtle protection and conservation. PAMaLi Indonesia relocated nests that are located below the high tide and on the location high risk of disturbance from animals or humans. For hawksbill nests, all of them are relocated to the hatchery, because they are very vulnerable from predators. With US $4,000, we expect to help 20,000 baby turtles to reach the ocean. 

Photo: PAMaLi Indonesia

ProNatura, Yucatán, Mexico

For more than 30 years, ProNatura has protected 3 of the most important nesting beaches in the Yucatan Peninsula. Celestún in Yucatán and Holbox in Quintana Roo are some of the most important nesting beaches for hawksbills in Mexico. El Cuyo is the second most important nesting beach in the Peninsula for green turtles. In the 2022 season, it was observed an increase in the number of nests at the three nesting beaches. For all the 3 beaches they had a total of 3,990 hawksbill nests, 4,917 green turtles nests, and 3 leatherback nests; these totals saved an estimated 365,079 hawksbills, 499,133 greens, and 282 leatherback hatchlings.  With US $7,000 for this season, our funds are expected to help almost 20,000 baby turtles to get to the ocean. 

SEA TURTLES & PLASTIC

Costa Rican Alliance for Sea Turtle Conservation & Science (COASTS), Costa Rica

COASTS’ aim is to safeguard sea turtle populations and their habitat by collecting data on their activities, conducting nightly patrols to prevent poaching, engaging in environmental outreach, restoring habitat, and providing alternative income for the local communities. For this grant they are focusing on removing plastic from the mouth of the Rio Sixaola and adjacent stretch of beach during the sea turtle nesting season. They have started to remove plastic during the past two nesting seasons and have pulled a total of 2117 kg (more than 2 metric tonnes) of plastic. With a grant of US $5,000, we expect to support the plastic removal and increase the efficiency of the team with the help of the community. 

Coastal Oaxaca's Greatest Hits

By Jennifer Bonniwell, SEE Turtles Traveler

This weeklong visit to Oaxaca and its famous turtle nesting beaches was our first trip to the area and I think was a resounding success. The days were filled with beaches and waterfalls, while every night we walked the beaches releasing turtle hatchlings and finding nesting mother turtles. Each day had a different highlight — from finding a leatherback nest and releasing turtle hatchlings to visiting a rainforest waterfall and seeing a rare endemic bird during a walk near Escobilla beach. As I look back, it is hard to find a single theme for the trip—although we did see turtle hatchlings nearly everyday. So, maybe the theme can be coastal Oaxaca’s greatest hits, since we saw much of the best that Oaxaca’s beaches have to offer.

First, a little background on why this area of Oaxaca is so great for turtle visits. The heart is Escobilla beach, which is one of the largest turtle nesting in the world. Indeed, Escobilla has the world’s largest arribada, which means “arrival by sea” in Spanish. We don’t know why it happens or how the turtles decide on the timing, but thousands of mother turtles come ashore at the same time and lay eggs along the same stretch beach where they were born. In Escobilla, more than 300,000 mother turtles can lay eggs in nests during a single arribada. Arribadas happen about once per month beginning in June. This means there also is a steady stream of turtle hatchlings along this beach for much of the nesting season. 

Second, a note about how SEE Turtles trips try to leave as little impact on wildlife while putting as much as possible into supporting communities that are helping protect sea turtles. SEE Turtles trips help support turtles in two ways: first with direct funding to local partners to protect nesting beaches and conduct in-water research. For this trip, an estimated $700 pp goes to conservation efforts. Second, these trips prioritize spending money in local communities because residents are more likely to support protecting sea turtles if they see a tangible commercial benefit from ecotourism. On this trip, $9,500 was spent on tour costs in local accommodations, eating in local restaurants, and paying local staff including local guides for tourist activities.  

Barra de la Cruz — Turtles and Surfing

We started our trip at Barra de La Cruz, which is an 8 km stretch of beach about 80 miles from Escobilla. Though this beach doesn’t have arribada, it is a very important beach for nesting leatherbacks; they also study and protect three kinds of turtles: leatherbacks, olive ridleys, and black turtles. Due to the steady stream of nesting turtles, we were able to see nests each night as well as release hatchlings two of the three nights. 

The Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga research station at Barra de aa Cruz patrols the beach every night during the nesting season to find and protect nests before human poachers. Researchers collect eggs from every nest that is laid and move them to a hatchery at the top of the beach enclosed by fences. When the eggs hatch — 45-70 days later (depending on the species) — the biologists then release the hatchlings outside the fences to crawl into the ocean. The benefit of moving the nests into a hatchery is to protect them from illegal egg collecting and also that biologists can monitor the health and temperature of the nests. At Barra de la Cruz, the protected hatchery also has shade to keep the nests from getting too hot (a more recent obstacle to successful nests caused by rising global temperatures). In 2021, the station protected more than 330 nests, with a 67% rate of hatching.

On the first night, our team visited the hatchery first. We arrive to find two nests filled with wiggling hatchlings (kept in place with a circular pen) that we help release into the ocean. Our group gets to pick up, count and carry the hatchlings in a tray to the beach. It’s important for turtles to imprint on the beach by walking on their own to the water. There is no moon, so we use red-light headlamps to place the hatchlings a few feet from the surf and watch them crawl into the water. A few times the hatchlings were walking away from the water, so we picked them up to turn them the right way. We released more than 150 hatchlings the first night and another 30 the second night. 

After the excitement of the hatchling release, we walk the beach to look for nesting mother turtles. We all wear red head lamps, which don’t bother turtles as much as white lights. We walk and work closely with the biologists from the local station. Teresa Luna is the lead biologist and she accompanies our group on evening walks as well as our daytime trips. She has worked at Barra de la Cruz for about a year, and with marine turtles for more than 15 years, but is still just as excited as all of us when we find a nesting turtle or when we release hatchlings. When we find a leatherback nest — just the 6th nest by a leatherback this season (this was a down year for this beach)— she is smiling from ear to ear.

During one of the first nights, Teresa gives a presentation at the station to our group about the turtles that nest in Barra de la Cruz and the station’s work. The station has reported promising increases in nesting turtles in the past few years. However, Teresa emphasizes that turtles have an extremely long life span; hatchlings that are born today will not return to build nests for 15 to 20 years. This means that good results today are likely due to protections put in place in the 1990s and that hard work today will not show up until 2037 or later. 

Our group had the option to walk the beach all three nights. Most nights we walk 1-3 hours, depending on what we find and how tired everyone is. The first night we found a nesting green turtle crawling up the beach. She started digging a few times, but after 20 minutes or so decided to abandon the nesting and go back into the water. This happens occasionally, especially because the sand is too dry or something else about conditions doesn’t feel right to her.

Up to two people also could ride on an ATV along the beach instead of walking. The second night, the ATV finds a leatherback nest shortly after the mother has left. Leatherbacks are the largest turtle that nests at Barra de La Cruz and the nest is huge comparably—almost 10 feet across. While it’s very clear a nest is here, the exact location is hard to find because the mother turtle has tried to cover it by disrupting the sand. The nest will be about 3 feet below the surface, so the research team uses a 3-foot wooden pole to poke into the sand to find the nest pocket. The nest has 86 eggs, all of which are immediately removed to the hatchery to give the eggs a better chance at hatching. In 2021 they were able to protect 97% of the total nests.

On the final night in Barra de la Cruz, the ATV found the tracks of another nesting leatherback—the 7th of the season. This site was nearly at the end of the 8 km beach—much farther than the rest of the group to have walked that night. But two members of our group were on the ATV with the researcher and got to see the nest. 

During the days in Barra de La Cruz we visit some of the tourist sites. Barra de la Cruz is known for its strong surf — which is why turtles like it as well — which means that we cross paths with surfers almost as often as turtles. We see several places to rent or repair surfboards, and there is a bit more of a beach bum chic nightlife than we will get later in the trip. One day we visit and have lunch at an organic coconut farm, where the enterprising young owner makes her own soaps, lotion, and crafts from coconut. We even get to make our own soap from coconut oil and glycerin using the same method she does. 

Another day we drive to a waterfall in the mountains near where our local tour guide lives. It’s much cooler and in a rainforest zone, which is a nice change from the arid beach where we are staying. We also visit a coop near the waterfall where local farmers have banded together to sell organic and local products such as mezcal (a local specialty), honey, horchata, and tablecloths. 

Escobilla—The Famous Arribada Beach

The middle of our trip is in Escobilla, which is one of the most important and plentiful turtle nesting beaches in the world. In 2021, more than 1.7 million turtles nested along the 16 km beach. The beach is protected from commercial development, and the absence of a surfer community means the local community is extremely small. There is no cell service or Wifi and we see only a single other tour van of outsiders during our three days in Escobilla. 

We arrive Dec. 1. It is not during an arribada, which happens about once per month from July to February. However, there are still nesting turtles every night and thousands of hatchlings on the beach. Our first night, we walk the beach at sunset with buckets to help bring hatchlings that are far up the beach down closer to the water. Often the beach gets so crowded during an arribada that mother turtles will lay eggs far from the water along the scrub brush. Each of us gets buckets and it takes only a few minutes to collect 20-30 hatchlings each. Then we pour them into a line about 30 feet from the waves and watch them crawl into the surf. A few times, we scare away a Turkey vulture or a crab that tries to grab the new babies. But we can’t do anything about the pelicans that scoop another hatchling that had already made it to the water before getting eaten. It is estimated that only one in 1,000 hatchlings will live to adulthood.

On our first night in Escobilla, we visit with the leaders of the research center to learn about their work and the obstacles that face turtles in the area.  As we did in Barra de la Cruz, each night we walk the beach to look for nesting mothers. After sunset, the beach is so covered with hatchlings that we can hardly walk a few feet without seeing one cross in front of us. We witness two nesting on each of our two nightly walks. Because there are so many nests in Escobilla, it’s not possible for researchers to move eggs to a hatchery. Indeed, many nests are destroyed by other mother turtles who dig their new nest on top of a previous nest. At Escobilla, it’s estimated that just 17% of eggs successfully hatch. New hatchlings then face natural predators — shorebirds and crabs — that are plentiful along the shoreline.

Our 12-person tour group gets along really well, in part because we have such varied talents and interests. This is on full display during a morning birdwatching walk while we are staying at Escobilla. One of our tour members is an avid birder (with an excellent telescoping lens camera) and is able to help identify local birds and help translate our Spanish-speaking guide. About halfway through the walk, we stop in a shady dried-up riverbed for a light breakfast of papaya, “sopes” (small tortillas with tomato sauce and cheese), hibiscus juice, and sweetened coffee. 

Mazunte—Mexican Vacation

Our final two nights we leave the turtle nesting beaches to stay in the more popular and populated beach village of Mazunte. This is a popular seaside town with many restaurants, seaside beach resorts and touristy shops. Many Europeans, Canadians, and some expats fill the streets and sidewalk cafes. After a fruitful week at turtle nesting beaches, our group is happy to return to our relatively luxurious hotel that boasts WiFi, hot water, hammocks, and a pool. 

For our final days, we visit a local turtle aquarium and rehabilitation center, the Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga. This is a great way to see the grassroots efforts by community members to help study and support turtles. We also take a boat ride from a nearby beach and see dolphins, several olive ridley turtles (each swimming alone), and a humpback whale. We finish with a celebratory dinner at a local Moroccan restaurant. 

As you can see, this was truly a greatest hits of Oaxaca’s coast and turtle nesting beaches. But it also helped support these important beaches and communities.

2022 Year In Review

This has been a great year for saving sea turtles! With tremendous support from our donors, sponsors, schools and travelers, we have made a real difference for protecting these endangered animals around the world. We have protected more hatchlings than ever, created innovative new tools for addressing the illegal wildlife trade, and expanded our programs to address plastic pollution, support local communities, and rally support for these animals with Sea Turtle Week. Read on for more below and look out for our 2023 goals in early January.

Billion Baby Turtles:

This program supports important turtle nesting beaches around the world. We raise funds from sponsors, donors, students, and our conservation trips to provide critical support to community oriented projects across the globe. Learn more about Billion Baby Turtles here.

• In 2022,  this program protected an estimated 3.2 million baby turtles. This is a 70% increase from 2021 and by far our biggest year to date.  We gave a total of 48 grants totaling US $273,000, These grants have supported the work in 60+ beaches in 19 different countries. 

• From these 48 grants, 2 have been for the Emergency Fund program, 2 Survey Grants, 11 new BBT partners and 33 long-term supported partners.

• With these grants, we have supported the salaries of 156 local residents, benefitting the coastal communities where sea turtles nest.

• To date, we have provided more than 150 grants totaling over US $900,000 that has helped to save more than 9 million endangered turtle hatchlings at 60+ beaches in 23 countries.

• This year we worked with several large brands to expand our support for turtle nesting beaches. Partnerships with Soda Stream, Joy Suds, and Next Earth, along with growth from partners like Loci Shoes and sustained support from long-term partners Nature’s Path and Endangered Species Chocolate have made this success possible.

Olive ridley hatchling from Mexico, courtesy Hal Brindley / TravelForWlidlife.com

Sea Turtles & Plastic:

We launched the Sea Turtles & Plastic program in late 2021 as a way to reduce plastic waste in sea turtle habitats and support local efforts to recycle that waste into useful products that support conservation efforts and local communities. Learn more about this program here.

• In 2022, we funded four projects working to reduce plastic in sea turtle habitats. Those grants included: Eco Mayto (Mexico), Karumbe (Uruguay), Juara Turtle Project (Malaysia), and Fundacao Principe (Principe Island).

• Through a partnership with Dots.Eco, we funded an additional 8 projects that conduct beach cleanups in 6 countries. These projects will collect an estimated 350,000 lbs of waste over the next year.

• We took over management of the Travelers Against Plastic campaign and are growing this project to encourage reducing plastic waste in travel and daily life. We completed a website redesign, launched a monthly newsletter, and have grown the social media following to more than 5,000 people across three channels.

• We launched our Sustainable Travel Sponsorships to increase support for plastic reduction and our other programs. We have added 12 new sponsors to the organization including leading operators Natural Habitat Adventures, Exodus Travels, Greenspot Travel, and others.

Eco Mayto Recycling Station. Photo courtesy Eco Mayto

Too Rare To Wear

The Too Rare To Wear campaign has been working to end the tortoiseshell trade since 2017. We provide tools, research, and funding to help partners around the world study and address this trade. Learn more about this program here.

• We launched the SEE Shell App in March 2022 as the first app that uses machine learning to identify illegal tortoiseshell products. Working with partners around the world, we created the app, tested it in multiple locations, and got strong media coverage including in National Geographic. The app is between 90-93% accurate in telling which products are or are not tortoiseshell. To date, the app has been downloaded more than 1,000 times in 23 countries.

• In connection with the app launch, we worked with partners in several countries to train government officials, local leaders and others, including:

  • Panama: Too Rare To Wear funded a two week-long series of workshops and visits on the hawksbill trade in Panama with our partners at the Leatherback Project, Fundacion Tortugas del Mar, and representatives of the Panamanian Ministry of the Environment and Navy. They completed tortoiseshell surveys in 6 shopping areas in and around Panama City, finding these products for sale in 5 sites. In addition, three high end jewelry shops in a prominent mall indicated that polleras (elaborate crowns made for special events) made from tortoiseshell could be made with an advance deposit. 

• Colombia: We have continued our long-term support for and collaboration with Fundacion Tortugas del Mar to study and address the tortoiseshell trade along Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Their work over the past decade has helped to dramatically reduce the trade in the city of Cartagena, one of the top spots for this trade in the hemisphere. They conducted three workshops in Coveñas with more than 300 participants from the Colombian Army, national police department, and others. 

The foundation also conducted new tortoiseshell surveys in Cartagena and Santa Marta. A total of nearly 250 shops were visited in Cartagena, fortunately with just 4 shops selling these products (a steep decline from 10 years ago). In cooperation with local authorities, the Fundacion conducted enforcement surveys in the coastal cities of Cartagena, Coveñas, and Tolu. 134 pieces of hawksbill were found and confiscated at the San Felipe Castle, a well-known tourist spot in Cartagena. In addition, a total of 45 pieces of tortoiseshell were confiscated from shops in Tolu and another 19 in Coveñas, the first time this action has been taken in these two towns. 

• Indonesia: Our partners Turtle Foundation and Yayasan Penyu Indonesia organized a workshop in the Central Sulawesi region. This activity was attended by 21 people from various stakeholders, including:  Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) in Central Sulawesi, Fish Quarantine and Quality Control Station (KIPM), Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affairs, and others. In addition, Turtle Foundation & Yayasan Penyu Indonesia are conducting a large outreach campaign that will include advertising on tv, radio, and social media, creation of outreach materials including signage, shirts, and costumes to use for student education. Our funds will help to train local artisans in alternative materials to allow them to stop selling tortoiseshell, as well as business training.

Collaboration with WWF

Our collaboration with WWF Australia has been extremely fruitful, starting with their office sharing tortoiseshell images to train the machine learning model. Their staff provided input and helped to test the app in the early stages. The WWF Australia team has also connected us with other WWF offices including their Coral Triangle Program, the WWF Asia Pacific Counter-Illegal Wildlife Trade Hub and WWF Singapore amongst others.

Key components of this collaboration include:

• SEE Shell is being showcased in a toolkit for the TRIPOD Project (Targeting Regional Investigations for Policing Opportunities & Development), which is a collaborative project of Freeland Foundation, WWF, and IFAW.

• Highlighting SEE Shell as part of WWF’s ShellBank – Marine Turtle Traceability and Forensics Training workshops led by the Global Marine Turtle Conservation Lead (WWF-Coral Triangle Program). This is part of the TRIPOD project in partnership with WWF in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. A total of 30 participants from 10 law enforcement agencies from Sabah Malaysia have participated to date.

• We worked with WWF to plan an event at the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). The event showcased new technologies and tools to track the illegal sea turtle trade, including SEE Shell.

Sea Turtle Conservation Trips

We offer unique opportunities to see and work with sea turtles including Costa Rica, Mexico, Belize, Panama, the Galapagos, and elsewhere. To date, we have generated more than $1 million for conservation and local communities and taken more than 1,300 people to visit conservation projects. Learn more about our conservation trips here.

Highlights from 2022 Conservation Tours

• We held 10 trips for a total of 77 travelers this year. These travelers generated more than $80,000 for conservation efforts and $40,000 for local communities. Our travelers also completed 270 volunteer shifts. Learn more about our conservation impact pricing.

• We launched new trips this year to the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Oaxaca Mexico, and Panama, extending our impact to more communities and conservation partners.

Escobilla Beach, Oaxaca Mexico. Photo courtesy Tui DeRoy

Inclusivity Fund:

In 2021, we began our Sea Turtle Inclusivity Fund to invest in building the capacity of local residents, minorities, and underrepresented groups. We provide grants to support new field work positions as well as for leaders in communities near turtle hotspots. Learn more about this program.

In 2022 we gave a total of 4 grants in to young leaders in 4 different countries:

• Busdar Marabatuan (Indonesia, 2022): Local Community Grant

• Daneira Brown (Panama, 2022): Fieldwork Grant

• Angelica Burgos (Venezuela, 2022): Fieldwork Grant

• Henry John (Papua New Guinea, 2022): Local Community Grant

A total of  $10,517 was intended to create 3 new jobs (2 as ranger coordinators and one as a program coordinator) for local communities and to support 2 students to do their fieldwork working with marine turtles in order to get their degree as Biologists. 

Inclusivity Fund recipient Busdar Marabatuan. Photo courtesy PAMALI.

Sea Turtle Week

Sea Turtle Week is a week-long celebration of sea turtles around the world started in 2019. The event takes place each June, between June 8th (World Oceans Day) and June 16th (World Sea Turtle Day). Learn more about this program here.

• We had 13 new partners join the campaign in 2022, bringing our total to 171 conservation partners in 45 countries around the world who participate in Sea Turtle Week events.

• Sea Turtle Week content reached 8.1 million viewers from around the world. 

• More than 6,500 users visited SeaTurtleWeek.com to view our online resources.

• We had on the ground partner visits with Loggerhead Marinelife Center and Inwater Research, where we posted live daily content about the work they do.

• We grew our Sea Turtle Week social media followers to 9,000+ user across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. More than 2,500 posts were created online using the hashtag #SeaTurtleWeek. We saw 110,000k interactions on our online posts.

Billion Baby Turtles September & October Update

Over the last two months, our Billion Baby Turtles program provided 10 grants totaling US $35,000 to partners in four countries. These grants will help save more than a million hatchlings of ridleys, green, leatherbacks and hawksbill turtles. This brings the total for 2022 to 53 grants totaling $273,000, protecting an estimated 3 million baby turtles!

Universidad Michoacana, Michoacán, Mexico

Colola                                

Since 2013 SEE Turtles has supported this project located on the coast of Michoacán, Mexico. Colola is the most important beach for nesting black turtles, which are a different morphotype of green turtles in this area (very dark skin and different shape and color of carapace). The population of black turtles has been monitored systematically since 1981, from that date, the population declined dangerously 1980-1999 (between 100 and 500 nesting females). However, since 2000 the number of female black turtles has been increasing significantly and in this past season (2021) was a record with the highest nesting season ever recorded with more than 72,000 nests and an estimated 4,435,200 hatchlings. With US$ 10,000 Billion Baby Turtles helped to protect more than 750,000 baby black turtles!

Photo: Juan Ma Contortrix

Mexiquillo

This natural protected beach is one of the most important nesting sites for the leatherback turtle in Mexico. In the 1980s, Mexiquillo represented the most important nesting site of this species in the Pacific basin. However, the population of the Pacific leatherback has dramatically declined ever since. During the nesting season 2021-22, 92 leatherback nests were reported, from these 92 nests 4,504 leatherback hatchlings were protected and helped to get to the ocean. With US$ 5,000 SEE Turtles helped to protect almost 1,500 baby turtles.

Guanacaste Dry Forest, Nancite, Costa Rica

Playa Nancite is the second most important nesting site for olive ridley sea turtles in Costa Rica. The arribadas of these turtles generally result in between 20,000 and 116,000 nests each year. Green turtles also nest at Nancite beach, but in much smaller numbers (between 20 and 65 nests per year). Turtle biologist Luis Fonseca has been studying the sea turtles of this area for more than a decade. His sea turtle monitoring project is integral to understanding population trends over time and in designing management and conservation actions that promote the recovery of sea turtle populations in this part of Costa Rica. He has also expanded his research to cover the prey/predator phenomenon between nesting sea turtles and jaguar population at Nancite beach, the first beach where such interactions have been extensively documented. Fonseca’s research has shown that the number of turtles eaten by jaguars has little effect on the overall population of olive ridleys and that the turtles are an important food source for animals of higher trophic level, such as jaguars, crocodiles, mountain lions, and birds. With a second grant this year of US$ 2,000 SEE Turtles supported the protection of 285,000 baby turtles. 

Kutzari, Guerrero, Mexico

Kutzari has worked since 2003 in the protection of leatherback turtles on the Pacific coast of Mexico. In partnership with SEE Turtles they are supporting the protection of leatherback nests in secondary beaches (“Priority 2 beaches”) in the Mexican Pacific. These beaches are patrolled by different local community groups interested in the protection of sea turtles, but their efforts are intermittent since they have not been able to secure consistent funding. With the financial support and technical advisory on part of Kutzari’s biologists, these groups are now focused on the protection of nesting leatherback in these beaches. Although not as numerous as index beaches, they are significant given the critical condition of the population. With US$ 3,000 Billion Baby turtles help to protect more than 1,100 baby leatherbacks.

Equipo Tora Carey, El Jobo, Costa Rica

Equipo Tora Carey (ETC) was created as the result of a successful cooperation between fishermen, local tourism operators, and biologists in protecting sea turtles around Punta Descartes in 2015. In the present, local residents patrol 5 different beaches every night. SEE Turtles has partnered with ETC since 2018, they protect around 250 nests of olive ridley, black, and sporadic hawksbill nests. With US$ 2,000 this season, Billion Baby Turtles support the protection of around 2,500 baby turtles. 

Photo: Equipo Tora Carey

COBEC, Marereni Seascape, Kenya

This project seeks to support the local effort on Marereni seascape, especially in the established locally managed marine area. This project aims to protect sea turtles and their habitats, both in the waters and on the beach by facilitating and enhancing local residents to patrol and protect the nests. COBEC is trying to find alternatives to illegally taken eggs for the local communities. With US$ 3,000 Billion Baby Turtles supported this project to protect almost 2,500 hatchlings.  

Campamento Tortuguero Mayto, Jalisco, Mexico (Emergency Fund Grant)

Focused on the protection of a sea turtle nesting  beach on the Pacific coast of Mexico, Mayto integrates environmental education and  community-based conservation efforts into a program that ensures the  safeguarding of sea turtle nests and hatchlings through volunteering programs  (nationally and internationally) as well as educational stays for high school and  university groups. Every year they protect between 1,200 and 1,500 nests (mostly olive ridleys and sporadic leatherbacks and hawksbills) and more than 70,000 hatchlings. Mayto was severely affected by Hurricane Kay since September 4th, 2022 with a loss of more than 70% of its facilities and significant damages to their hatchery. SEE Turtles supported this project with US $2,500 to match donations to rebuild part of their lost facilities affected by the hurricane.

Palmarito, Oaxaca, Mexico (New Partner)

The Palmarito Project has been operating since 2005, a nesting beach for leatherback black and olive ridley turtles, located on the route migration of sea turtles and the most important nesting area in the Mexican Pacific. Last season they protected 1,163 baby leatherbacks, 8,735 green and 40,076 baby ridleys. Billion Baby Turtles supported this new partner with US$ 5,000 helping to save more than 7,000 baby turtles. 

Cleaning Turtle Habitats Around the World with Our Sponsor Dots.Eco

We’re excited to be working with Dots.Eco, a company that offers environmental incentives for games and other apps. Through our collaboration, Dots.Eco is helping to fund cleanup of an estimated 350,000 lbs of plastic waste from sea turtle nesting beaches and foraging areas in seven countries in coordination with eight of our Sea Turtles & Plastic partners! Learn more about our collaboration with Dots.Eco here.

The funding will support the following efforts:

Paso Pacifico

Paso Pacifico works with communities and local organizations to clean plastic from turtle nesting beaches along the country’s Pacific coast.

Location: Nicaragua

Total estimated plastic collected: 25,000 lbs

Photo: Paso Pacifico

Karumbe

Karumbe is a community-based project that is working with Plastic Free Sea Turtles to reduce plastic pollution in the bay at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, one of the worst areas for sea turtles consuming plastic in the world.

Location: Uruguay

Total estimated plastic collected: 50,000 lbs

Our World, Our Sea

Beach clean ups will be done along twelve community beaches and three fish landing sites. They also perform sensitization in local communities and schools to increase awareness on the need for sea turtle conservation.

Location: Ghana

Total estimated plastic collected: 56,000 lbs

Latin American Sea Turtles (LAST)

LAST works to protect sea turtles at projects on both of Costa RIca’s coasts. These funds will help conduct monthly cleanups at their project sites on the Osa Peninsula, Pacuare Beach, and Moin.

Location: Costa Rica

Total estimated plastic collected: 125,000 lbs

Photo: Latin American Sea Turtles

Palawan Biodiversity Conservation Advocates

Palawan Biodiversity organizes one clean-up a month in different barangays or villages in Puerto Princesa City.

Location: Philippines

Total estimated plastic collected: 21,000 lbs

COBEC

The Community empowerment and outreach project that seeks to protect and conserve sea turtles and their habitat in Marereni seascape, has a component on ocean plastic waste collection and recycling. More than 30 locals have benefited directly whereas over 300 individuals indirectly from the project in terms of monies that come from the recycled artifacts. 

Location: Kenya

Total estimated plastic collected: 22,000 lbs

Photo: COBEC

Turtle Love 

Turtle Love runs a community-based conservation project working to protect sea turtles nesting at Playa Tres, the 6-km stretch of beach immediately south of Tortuguero National Park. Tortuguero National Park.

Location: Costa Rica

Total estimated plastic collected: 30,000 lbs

Bahari Hai

In 2021 a group of community members came together with a common desire to make a difference in their own environment and to do so with an organization built upon a solid foundation of good governance and strong leadership. The target area is Kanani area (Watamu to Malindi), in the north coast of Kenya. This area was chosen because this section of coastline which accumulates a lot of waste due to the Kuzi monsoon.

Location: Kenya

Total estimated plastic collected: 23,000 lbs

Billion Baby Turtles August Update

Last month, our Billion Baby Turtles program provided 4 grants totaling US $15,000 to partners in four countries. These grants will help save an estimated 6,800 hatchlings of leatherbacks, hawksbills, and green turtles. This brings out total for 2022 to 43 grants totaling $238,000, protecting an estimated 2.3 million baby turtles!

Chelonia, Playa Grande, Puerto Rico

Chelonia oversees monitoring the nesting seasons of the leatherback turtles in Playa Grande El Paraíso during the past ten years. The Chelonia team is made up of volunteers under the guidance of the staff of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER). This Organization train people to carry out an action plan that benefits the conservation and scientific community. They protect around 370 nests and more than 22,000 hatchlings of leatherbacks every year. Billion Baby Turtles supported this new partner with US$ 3,000 for this season, helping to save an estimated 3,700 hatchlings.

Ashanti Conservation Initiative, Ghana (New Partner)

This is a new project born in 2021 due to the covid-19 outbreak that disrupted the conservation sector in Ghana, especially with income losses and reduced survey and monitoring activities. This project seeks to increase the awareness and empower of local communities and support the rehabilitation of key marine turtles nesting sites in the Western region of Ghana. The project ensures full participation of local communities and the information gathered will provide valuable insight into the relative abundance per species, and an indication of threats encountered by sea turtles visiting nesting sites. With US $3,000, Billion Baby Turtles support this to protect olive ridleys, green, and leatherback nesting turtles, saving an estimated 1,000 hatchlings, out of about 15,000 hatchlings in total.

Fauna & Flora International. Estero Padre Ramos & Aserradores, Nicaragua

The Pacific Coast of Nicaragua hosts globally important nesting beaches for critically endangered hawksbill turtles. They are threatened by illegal harvesting and trade of eggs and shells, fishing practices, and the degradation of coastal habitats. FFI and its partners in Nicaragua have over 20 years of experience in halting illegal collection, building local capacity to monitor and protect nests, and generating local and national awareness to protect turtles and counter leading threats. So far, they have protected 2,582 nests, released 230,038 hatchlings, and reduced poaching rates to less than 5%. SEE Turtles funds supported this organization with US$ 5,000 to enhance community engagements, effective patrols, and protection of nests, helping to save an estimated 1,100 hatchlings.

Photo: Nick Bubb, FFI

Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative, Conflict Island Atoll, Papua New Guinea

CICI’s ‘Safe Habitats’ program employ indigenous conservation rangers, training them on marine turtle populations, importance, and conservation techniques. The rangers presence along the Conflict Islands help to make aware local communities and decrease the number of illegal collectors from surrounding islands. Furthermore, to increase hawksbill hatchling success, they also collect ‘high risk’ eggs that are either below the high tide line or on a beach accessed by illegal collectors and relocate them in their hatchery on the main island of Panasesa. This project started in 2016 with just 4 local rangers but now they have 14, and this year they are seeking to employ an additional 4 women to the team. This project protects green and hawksbill turtles, every year they help around 28,000 hatchlings to get to the ocean. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US$ 3,000, helping to save an estimated 1,000 hatchlings.

Jaguars & Turtles At Nancite Beach, Costa Rica

By Adriana Cortes, Director of Latin America Programs

Nancite is a truly unique beach, one of the most important turtle nesting beaches in Costa Rica. But Nancite is not an easy place to visit. In order to get to Nancite I meet Luis Fonseca, the lead researcher of this project, in the city of Liberia in the Guanacaste Province around 4 pm. He changed his city car for a huge 4x4 jeep and we headed out to the Interamerican Highway.

Adriana, Pablo, & Luis

Overhead view of Nancite Beach, photo Luis Fonseca

It was a sunny afternoon with no rain on sight. After 40 minutes on the road, we turned at the entrance of Santa Rosa National Park. After 10 minutes on a secondary road the pavement ended and that’s where the fun started. Our jeep took on a muddy road for the next hour and a half; some parts, especially at the end, was so muddy to the point I thought we wouldn’t be able to make through.  But of course, Luis’ the experience got us to the end of the road, where Pablo, the station manager was waiting for us to help us with the supplies. We packed up and started on what was the hike. The first part was especially challenging, a very rocky and steep climb, taking me at least 30 minutes to traverse. At the top it took me 10 minutes until my heart and breath were back to normal; I realized that I need more exercise!

Even though it was already dark without any moon to light the way, I could see that the view was magnificent, with El Naranjo beach of one side and part of Nancite in the other side. The ocean was in front and the National Park behind us, only far away in the south could we see lights from the town of El Coco; there I realize how isolated we were at this spot. The descent took another 40 minutes which I found very easy after that tough climb. Once I was settled in at the station, we had dinner headed up to the beach.

Nancite is one of the two arribada beaches in Costa Rica for olive ridleys (Ostional is the other). The arribada is a rare phenomenon where the ridleys nest in mass, with thousands coming ashore over a few days. It was a surprise to me that Nancite could host an arribada, since it is only a 1 km beach (0.62 miles). This beach has 3 to 4 arribadas per season with around 70,000 nests total every season, producing around 3 million hatchlings annually. Our Billion Baby Turtles program has supported this project for the past three years.

Arribada at Nancite, photo Luis Fonseca

Nesting olive ridley, photo Luis Fonseca

Due to the difficult access to this beach and the protection of the park (closed during 2020 to the public due to the covid pandemic), for the past 10 years, the jaguar population has been growing in numbers. On this beach, they have found that jaguars eat the nesting turtles since are completely defenseless and slow, making them a much easier meal than a deer. All these factors make this place a unique opportunity to see a jaguar in their habitat, an opportunity that I was ready to take.

The night was clear, full of stars with some wind and just the perfect temperature for a great night patrol. It was a waxing moon, so it came out late during the night. It was around 10 pm when we went to the beach and the first thig we saw was a dead turtle, with a fatal wound on her head and many jaguar footprints around. The jaguars were out earlier than us; with the blood it seemed that the attack was very recent. Pablo and Luis deduced that it may be a female with her cubs who were there and killed the turtle.

Jaguar footage courtesy of Luis Fonseca

Not far from the first dead turtle, we found another chased turtle, this time from a solitary feline according to the tracks. Luis and Pablo were sure that the jaguars would come back for the chased turtles, so we walked the beach. We saw many tracks but no more turtles or jaguars that night; after midnight we decided to go to bed. The next day we had to wake up at 6 am to have breakfast and then a 3 hour trail in the other side of the north mountain to check their camera traps, which they use to study the jaguars and other wildlife in this area.

After coffee for me (and a good breakfast for the boys), we left the station by a path through the forest. Luis and I started walking when, just a the end of the path where it met the beach and the mountain starts, Luis stopped and said very quietly, “the jaguar.” I turned to my left and saw him, a magnificent, big, spotted yellow cat, only about 10 meters (33 feet) from me. He saw us and I could see his eyes; it was only few seconds, but it was enough for me to appreciate this unbelievable experience. I stopped breathing for a while, but I stepped on a branch and with this noise the jaguar turned around and ran gracefully to the beach to hide in the mangroves. It took me few minutes to realize what just happened; we tried to follow him, but he was, of course, faster and we didn’t see him again.

After this we continued our walk to the other side of a rocky mountain to check other camera trap. The view at the top was great and the whole experience unforgettable. We rested during the afternoon and that night we patrolled the beach a few more hours though we didn’t see any more turtles or jaguars. Luis and Pablo seem disappointed not to find a cat since they are usually around, but I was delighted with my experience of that morning. Next morning, we started our way back before to the road. It was a very short visit, but I already felt a certain nostalgia for leaving this incredible paradise. I’m sure I’m coming back one day.

Learn more:

• Where Turtles Meet Jaguars by Luis Fonseca, State of the World’s Turtles

• Jaguars Hunt Endangered Sea Turtles, National Geographic

Exploring Costa Rica’s Wildlife In El Jobo

We started our trip from Costa Rica’s Liberia Airport on a sunny day in August despite the forecast saying it would be a rainy week. Once our group participating on our Costa Rica Wildlife Research trip were all together, we headed to El Jobo with Lis, our local EcoTeach guide and our driver, a very pleasant 1.5 hour trip. Shortly before arriving to El Jobo we made a quick stop in the great viewpoint of Bahia Salinas, we could also see Nicaragua at the end of this huge natural bay. Then we took our private bus to finally get to El Jobo and to our hotel.

Photo of northwestern Costa Rica, credit Liseth Alfaro

We stayed at Casa Mariquita which has cabins going up a hillside, some with great views to the ocean. After everyone was settled in, we went to have dinner with a local family where we were going to eat all our stay there. After dinner we joined Ricardo with that our partner Equipo Tora Carey (ETC) for a short walk to check a hawksbill nest that was expected to hatch during the trip. Despite the fatigue, nobody wanted to miss this opportunity. We drove for 5 min to get to Playa Rajada, a beautiful sandy beach on a hidden corner of the Pacific Ocean. With thunder in the ocean lighting our path and with our local guide's advice, we decided to walk barefoot and feel the warm sand under our feet.

The second morning, we went to Manzanillo beach, a short 10 min walk. Once there Ricardo, one of the founders of Equipo Tora Carey, explained to us the work they do monitoring rays 3 times per week. Before ETC started working in this area, only one species of ray was reported; so far, they have now more than 20 species identified just at the 6 beaches they are studying. Ricardo also explained to us what to do if we see a ray, how to capture them, and what to do when we bring them to the shore. Then we started snorkeling around the area looking for these fascinating animals. At the end of the activity we captured 4 rays, and Sam, one of our group captured one on her first try! We learned a lot about rays, how to manipulate them, and how beautiful they are. 

Ray research, credit Sara Whicker

Credit Liseth Alfaro

At noon we headed to have lunch and talk with Mathilde, part of ETC, about how the organization started, how the community is involved in all the activities, and the great work they do with turtles, rays, parrots, and education. After lunch we decided to spend our free time at La Rajada beach; part of the group decided to just relax and take a nap on the beach and the other part went for a short hike to Playa Rajadita, the next beach and to the viewpoint that is in between. (photos) In the late afternoon, part of the team joined Mathilde for the parrot’s research activity, which is done on the porch of her house. That night we did a beach patrol with Ricardo and saw a nesting olive ridley and the last hatchling emerging from a nest.

The third morning we started with an early breakfast and then headed to Matapalito beach, a marine management area adjacent to Santa Rosa National Park about a 45 min boat ride awa across the Gulf. During the ride we saw mating turtles, rays, and many humpback whales jumping at the distance. ETC conducts in-water turtle research in a feeding area of the gulf, where the team caught turtles to study them and collect important data. We were not lucky with the net, but Mathilde caught an adult green turtle. With Marlon, the guide of the ETC team we measured, weighed, and checked the turtle. They also placed a PIT tag and metallic tags and finally we took a blood sample from the beautiful female. Happy to complete the duty, we had lunch at the boats before going back to Manzanillo, this time under the rain.

Nesting olive ridley, credit Samantha Pfeffer

Green turtle being weighed, credit Amy Disselkamp

On that night’s beach patrol, we checked a nest in El Jobo beach and found 49 olive ridley baby turtles. Since at this beach there is a big resort (Dreams Las Mareas) with many lights on the beach that can confuse the hatchlings, we had take them to nearby El Coquito beach to release them to make sure they did not head inland towards the lights.

On the fourth day, we had activities with the local community. We started with a ceviche workshop where everyone was involved doing part of the process of cooking the seafood in lime juice to eat for lunch. Then we had a soap workshop, where the local women showed us how to make our own soaps to bring home with us. We also visited a recycling center where women from the community work and live from this activity. That night, the patrol team split in 2, one walking La Rajada beach and the other did the long patrol up to La Rajadita. We didn’t find any turtles but we had an amazing view of a clear sky full of stars, walking on this lovely beach with bioluminescence in the waves.

After breakfast on the fifth morning, we visited a bat cave, taking a short trail along the cost departing from Manzanillo beach. Walking on the most ancient rocks of Central America, in this area we saw some of the first geological parts that emerged when the isthmus was formed due to volcanic activity and lifting of the ocean floor by subduction of the Cocos plate under the Caribbean plate 60 million years ago. The sky was blue, the water was pristine, and the amazing rocky formation contrasted with the luxurious green of the vegetation put a smile on our faces the whole time.

Credit: Mathilde Giry

That afternoon, when we got back to the beach to board the sailboat for the whale watching trip, Liz pointed out a group of capuchin monkeys, eating mangos, and hanging out just a few feet from us. After this, we boarded the boat, a 33 foot sailing boat with Mathilde and Marlon as the crew. After around 30 minutes, we saw a stream of water emerge in front of the boat; not far from us was a humpback whale! The crew turned to approach the whale and then we spotted another whale to our right; it was a magical spectacle.

After a few minutes, the whales submerged and we lost sight of them. By then we remembered that we were starving and turned around and went to dock around Isla Muñeca, (Doll Island.) Mathilde prepared a lovely lunch in a very nice spot for snorkeling. After lunch we snorkeled and then sailed back to Mazanillo with a beautiful sunset, such a perfect last afternoon in El Jobo. 

The last day of the trip, I left our group to visit Nancite, a turtle nesting beach that we support through our Billion Baby Turtles program (new post on that visit coming soon). The group with Lis headed to the Blue River Resort, a wonderful lodge with hot springs, gardens and more located near the Rincon de la Vieja National Park. The travelers chose their own activities that day, hiking or just hanging around the beautiful grounds of the resort. Our first trip to El Jobo was a great success, with our group working with many species of animals, seeing several turtles, and bringing important income to this community to continue its conservation and research efforts.

Credit: Liseth Alfaro

Working To End The Tortoiseshell Trade

Our Too Rare To Wear program has been busy this year. We launched our ground-breaking SEE Shell App in April and since then have been collaborating with partners to improve the app, train law enforcement officials on its use, and support long-term efforts to reduce the trade in key spots around the world.

Key highlights from this work:

• Launch of the SEE Shell app: SEE Shell is the first to use machine learning to identify hawksbill shell products with photos. More than 1,100 people in 23 countries around the world have downloaded the app to date, which includes 650 downloads from the Apple App Store and 520 downloads on the Google App Store as of August 2022. The app has been tested to reach about 90% accurate on tortoiseshell products.

• Colombia: Our partner Fundacion Tortugas del Mar has completed workshops with hundreds of participants in coastal towns to educate about this trade and train people how to use the app. They also conducted surveys of more than 500 shops in the region, finding more than 30 selling more than 1,500 pieces of tortoiseshell. They also added 30 new shops to their Turtle-Free Souvenir Shops program.

• Panama: Too Rare To Wear funded a two week-long series of workshops and visits on the hawksbill trade in Panama with our partners at the Leatherback Project, Fundacion Tortugas del Mar, and representatives of the Panamanian Ministry of the Environment and Navy.

  This team also conducted a training survey on the tortoiseshell trade with more than 2,500 representatives of the Panamanian Army & Navy, who are key to enforcing the laws on wildlife trafficking in the country. In addition, they held 4 workshops for local kids in 4 coastal communities, reaching more than 300 students. Finally, while traveling the country, the team investigated the use of tortoiseshell for the cockfighting industry, which little information has been available due to its secretive nature.

• Indonesia: Our partners Turtle Foundation / Yayasan Penyu Indonesia are conducting a large outreach campaign that will include advertising on tv, radio, and social media, creation of outreach materials including signage, shirts, and costumes to use for student education. Our funds will help to train local artisans in alternative materials to allow them to stop selling tortoiseshell, as well as business training. In addition, they will be holding three workshops for law enforcement to promote use of our app.

• Collaboration with WWF: Our collaboration with WWF Australia has been extremely fruitful, starting with their office sharing tortoiseshell images to train the machine learning model. Their staff provided input and helped to test the app in the early stages. ·      SEE Shell will be showcased in a toolkit for the TRIPOD Project which is a collaborative project of Freeland Foundation, WWF, and IFAW. They are highlighting SEE Shell as part of WWF’s ShellBank – Marine Turtle Traceability and Forensics Training workshops led by the Global Marine Turtle Conservation Lead in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. A total of 30 participants from 10 law enforcement agencies from Sabah Malaysia have participated so far.

Learn more about our Too Rare To Wear program here.

Sea Turtles & Plastic Program Update

It has been a busy few months for our Sea Turtles & Plastic program! With grants to organizations in Curacao, Colombia, Kenya, and Mexico, we have helped our partners fund efforts to cleanup up sea turtle nesting beaches, educate and engage local communities, and convert plastic beach trash into marketable goods. Our partners have engaged in hard on the ground work, launching new programs and working on novel solutions to ocean plastic issues.

Green Phenix

On the island of Curacao, Green Phenix organizes regular beach cleanups, educational tours and converts collected ocean plastic into new products. Founded in 2019, Green Phenix grew from a project in a backyard to an organization with 8 employees and 24 participants in a “learn and work program” in a beautiful facility that has reached over 5,000 kids with educational presentations. Their project offers people that have been unemployed for a long time the opportunity to join the “learn and work program” for 1 year.

Since October 2021, they have collected a staggering 7,660 kg (16,800 lbs) of trash with 269 kg (~600 lbs) marked for recycling through regular beach cleanups with the support of funds from SEE Turtles. In their plastic bakery, collected beach plastic is transformed into new products. Current efforts are focusing on using newly acquired molds to convert beach plastic into standardized high-quality souvenirs. Four team members have been trained to operate the 3D printers so far. They also produce products that are handcrafted and extruded.

Photo: Green Phenix

Research Center for Environmental Management and Development (CIMAD)

CIMAD works to address the pollution of sea turtle nesting beaches in the community of Pangui in the Chocó Pacific region of Colombia by transforming plastic into artisanal and utilitarian handicrafts made by local women. Efforts began in December of 2021 by sending materials and tools funded by SEE Turtles to a group of women known as Mujeres Conservando Vida. They were able to turn collected beach trash into Santa Claus dolls and Christmas trees that the women were able to take home, with the intent to teach locals that recycled materials can be transformed into decorative objects, handicrafts, and other marketable products. In January of 2022, the first workshop on plastics and turtles was held with the group of women, where they were informed about the importance of keeping the beaches free of this material for the conservation of sea turtles in their community.

Currently, the Mujeres Conservando Vida group is made up of 14 people, 8 of whom are active in the production of recycled plastic products. So far, they have collected 6.5 kg of plastic (14 lbs) from local sea turtle nesting beaches. This material has been washed, dried, cut into strips, and turned into skeins which have been woven into hats and bags. They have also created flowers and floral arrangements. COVID has slowed tourism in the region but they hope to be able to sell their products at the Nuquí airport, as well as hostels and hotels in the area soon. They are also marketing their goods on Instagram where you can find them as @mujeresconservandovida. They plan to donate 15% of the profits obtained from products sold to tourists to purchase equipment needed by local groups that monitor the Pangui sea turtle nesting beaches. 

Photo: CIMAD

Community-Based Environmental Conservation (COBEC)

Tying together sea turtle monitoring, education and plastic waste collection, COBEC has focused their efforts on the beaches and communities along the Marereni Seascape of Kenya. With little known about the local sea turtle population, COBEC began by training 10 community members with a passion for sea turtle conservation. Residents were taught how to effectively monitor the sea turtle nesting beaches and to collect data needed to inform management for the proper conservation. The team has identified 27 nests this season with 14 nests successful hatchings for a total of 1,478 hatchlings. Three species have been identified nesting on their beach: green sea turtles, hawksbills and olive ridleys.

Every month they hold a beach cleanup with local communities in their attempts to keep the nesting beaches free of trash and aide in habitat restoration. They have collected 1.2 tons of plastic waste and procured a plastic bottle shredder to shred and convert this plastic into small goods like key holders. They have also filled 1,000 plastic bottles with sand to make building materials.

Photo: COBEC

Campamento Tortuguero Mayto

Campamento Tortuguero Mayto works to address plastic pollution in their local communities on Mexico’s Pacific coast by providing local collection containers. Previously, people would dispose of plastic by burning it along with their garden waste, adding toxins to both the environment and air. The collection containers have provided local communities with an alternative disposal solution. With 29 containers currently deployed, they have collected 411 kg of plastic (~900 lbs) in the last 6 months, benefiting 250 people.

The plastic collected in these containers is brought to transported to the collection and management center, located at the Centro de Educación Ambiental de Mayto (CEAM). Plastic is manually separated according to plastic recycling number and color. Using the thermo-molding technique, the plastic is shredded into small pieces and directly recycled to create kids chairs, roof tiles, bowls, and other products. Recent efforts to create recycled goods have been halted due to electrical issues but they are hoping to resume soon. In the meantime, they are continuing their plastic collection and compaction, beach and town clean ups, and environmental education workshops with volunteers and students. They have also been working together with active members of the plastic transformation community in different states in Mexico. One example of this is their partnership with SuuT KuXtal, with whom they have designed and created a plastic inclusion mold to create a turtle that can be sold as a souvenir to tourists and students. Check them out on Instagram here @campamentomayto.

Photo: Eco Mayto

July Billion Baby Turtles Update

We’re continuing with our record-breaking year for saving hatchlings through our Billion Baby Turtles program! July was another very busy month with 11 new grants to 10 organizations working in 8 countries. We provided a total of $59,000 in grants that will protect an estimated 580,000 hatchlings at these beaches. Many of these grants were due to the tremendous support from our recent collaboration with SodaStream. That brings out total for the year to more than 2 million hatchlings saved.

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Bastimentos Island, Panama 

After more than 20 years of sea turtle research in Bocas del Toro Province, Anne and Peter Meylan formed a partnership with STC in 2003 to monitor increasing nesting by hawksbills along the Bocas coast. The area of work by the Meylans has been three important nesting beaches: Small Zapatilla Cay, Big Zapatilla Cay, and Playa Larga, are part of the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park. Billion Baby Turtles funds primarily support monitors on Playa Larga but also supported monitoring efforts on the Zapatilla Cays and weekly surveys on 11 km of beach adjacent to Playa Larga. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US $5,000 this season, helping to save an estimated 20,000 hatchlings this season.

Photo: Peter Meylan

Turtle Foundation, Sipora, Berau, and Selaut Besar, Indonesia

On the island of Sipora in West Sumatra, part of the Mentawai Islands, in autumn 2017, a completely unknown nesting 8 km beach of the endangered leatherback turtle was discovered: Buggeisiata. During decades the local community used to hunt nesting females and take the eggs for their consumption. With these practices the number of nesting females has decimated, but since Turtle Foundation is protecting this beach, the local community has respected the life of nesting females. By the end of March 2022 they protected 29 leatherback nests, 7 green turtles and 4 olive ridleys. With US $3,000, SEE Turtles supported this project which will save an estimated 500 hatchlings.

The Derawan Archipielago in the district of Berau, East Borneo, is located in the famous Coral Triangle, making it part of one of the most biodiverse marine areas. It also is one of the most important nesting sites for green turtles. In 2019 Turtle Foundation started their conservation efforts on Belambangan island and by the end of 2020 they extended their activities to the neighboring island of Sambit. All this work had led to a virtual complete decline of illegal collection for the first time in those islands, where turtle nests are now able to develop undisturbed. With US$ 10,000 Billion Baby Turtles supported this project, helping to save an estimated more than 52,000 hatchlings of three species. 

Selaut Besar is an important nesting site for green turtles in Sumatra. With a significant peak in September, they had more than 600 nests in the first year. Furthermore, leatherbacks turtles also nest on the island (22 nests). Lastly, the island is also sporadically visited by hawksbill turtles, so a total of three species of sea turtles nest on this unique island. Billion Baby Turtles is supporting this new project with US$ 10,000 for this upcoming season, helping save more than 13,000 hatchlings. 

Photo: Turtle Foundation

Ayotlcalli, Guerrero, Mexico

Campamento Tortuguero Ayotlcalli was founded in September of 2011 with the purpose of protecting three species of sea turtles that nest along 15 kilometers of beaches that include Playa Blanca, Playa Larga, and Barra de Potosi near Zihuatanejo. This nonprofit organization works with the assistance of several local and international volunteers who perform various activities such as night patrols searching for nests, relocating the eggs into the hatchery, and releasing into their vast new home. Billion Baby Turtles supported Ayotlcalli with US $3,000, helping to protect about 8,500 hatchling of the 3 different species that nest on these beaches (olive ridleys, leatherbacks, and black turtles).

Reef Guardians, Lankayan Island, Malaysia 

Since 2004, this project has protected hawksbill and green turtles nesting on Lankayan Island, in Malaysia. Since then, the annual nesting increased gradually from 138 nests in 2004 to 833 in 2021. In the last season, they protected 726 nests of greens and 107 nests of hawksbill turtles. In 2021, nesting recorded the 2nd highest total for the last 21 years. A total of 74,506 eggs were incubated for both species with a total of 59,863 hatchlings helped to the sea. With US $3,000, Billion Baby Turtles supported this upcoming season, helping save about 3,100 hatchlings. 

SOS Nicaragua  

Since 2019, Sos Nicaragua has been independently implementing conservation efforts on the island of Los Brasiles, starting a sea turtle protection program that extends to all recorded nesting species. The average number of nests protected annually usually exceeds 100, mostly nests of olive ridley turtles. Billion Baby Turtles support this project with US $2,000 this year which will help save about 1,400 hatchlings. 

Fundação Tartaruga, Boa Vista, Cabo Verde               

The Turtle Foundation has been active on Boa Vista since 2008, initially as a project and in 2021 Fundação Tartaruga, was created as a non-governmental organization registered under Cabo Verdean law. Through their protection programs, the total number of turtles killed has been drastically reduced year after year. Monitoring of the nesting beaches is conducted by local rangers and volunteers, but also with innovative methods such as the use of drones. Last season they protected a total of 20,660 nests and helped save more than 1 million baby turtles. Billion Baby Turtles is supporting this program with US $10,000 for this season, which will help save about 28,500 hatchlings.

Everlasting Nature,  Kimar Island, Indonesia    

This organization helps protect hawksbill turtle to help the recovery of this population, which has been devastated by the tortoiseshell trade. This island used to have a big problem with illegal egg collecting, this is the main reason for the establishment of this project. Everlasting Nature hires local people as “egg guardians,” walking the beach every morning and collecting nesting data. They conduct this this project with Indonesia Sea Turtle Research Foundation (Yayasan Penyu Laut Indonesia/ YPLI) as partner. Our Billion Baby Turtle program supported them with US$ 5,000 for this season, protecting an estimated 14,000 hatchlings.

Photo: Everlasting Nature

Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund, Costa Rica 

Playa Nancite is the second most important nesting site for olive ridley sea turtles in Costa Rica. The arribadas of these turtles generally result in between 20,000 and 116,000 nests each year. Green turtles also nest at Nancite, but in much smaller numbers. Turtle biologist Luis Fonseca has been studying the sea turtles of this area for more than a decade. He has expanded his research to cover the prey/predator phenomenon between nesting sea turtles and jaguar population, the first beach where such interactions have been extensively documented. With US$ 3,000 SEE Turtles supported this important beach that will help protect approximately 430,000 hatchlings.

Conservation des Espèces Marines, Grand-Béréby, Ivory Coast     

Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM) has been active for more than a decade in sea turtle protection activities, focusing on approximately 30 km of beaches west of Grand-Béréby. CEM is a local nonprofit association of Ivory Coast and it is composed almost entirely by members of local communities. Three sea turtle species nest on the beach West of Grand Béréby: leatherbacks, with up to 200 nests every season, olive ridleys, with up to 650 nests every season, and green turtles, with up to 50 nests every season. Billion Baby Turtles is supporting this organization for the first time this year with US $5,000 to help protect an estimated 10,000 hatchlings.

May & June Billion Baby Turtles New Grants

Our Billion Baby Turtles program supports important turtle nesting beaches around the world. To date, we have provided $185,000 for 28 nesting beaches, helping to save an estimated 2.5 million hatchlings in 2023, with more grants planned for the rest of the year. See all of our partners here.

ProNatura Yucatan, Mexico

The project centers on the protection and recovery of sea turtle populations at three of the major nesting beaches for hawksbills and green turtles in the Yucatan Peninsula, the Caribbean, and the Northwest Atlantic, the team surveys a total of 79 km (49 miles) of beach. ProNatura Yucatan protects annually an average of 1,148 nests of hawksbills and 1,334 of green turtles; this is more than 200,000 baby turtles (for both especies) protected and helped to get to the big blue. With a grant of US $15,800, Billion Baby Turtles supports ProNatura this season to continue this great work. 

Hawksbill hatchlings from Mexico. Photo: Maria Andrade

Vida Marina, Puerto Rico

The Sea Turtle Project of Western Puerto Rico is one of the projects operated by Vida Marina: Center for Ecological Restoration and Conservation of the University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla. The program staff monitors beaches for nesting activity, performs night-time watches, to tag and measure female leatherback turtles, using metal and pit tags, and performs nest inventories. This project also  assesses, investigates, reports and helps reduce sea turtle conservation threats such as: presence of feral dogs and cats, egg poaching, nest trampling by horseback riding tours and light pollution on nesting beaches.. Billion Baby Turtles contributed this season with a grant of US$ 5,000. 

Mar Alliance, Guna Yala, Panama

The autonomous Guna Yala Comarca on the Caribbean coast of Panama hosts incredible biodiversity and marine ecosystems. MarAlliance, which includes indigenous Guna biologists, students, educators, and fishermen, has been working in the Comarca to better understand the populations of marine megafauna in these habitats through in-water monitoring, as well as by conducting education, outreach, and capacity-building activities with schools, tour guides, fishers, and community leaders to improve management and conservation of marine resources.  This year Billion Baby Turtles supported MarAlliance with US$ 3,000 to establish and train the local community as managers of the project. 

Sri Lanka Turtle Conservation Project, Rekawa, Sri Lanka

Rekawa is a small fishing village located on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka. Five species of sea turtles come ashore to nest on the beaches of Sri Lanka and all these five species nest in Rekawa. It is probably the most important green turtle nesting rookery in Sri Lanka. Until 1996, none of the turtle eggs survived but were consumed or sold by the locals. The main objectives of this project are: 1) In situ protection of all sea turtle nests and hatchlings at this sanctuary; 2) provide alternative livelihood for Rekawa community members who used to depend on turtle egg collection; and, 3) provide an opportunity for general public, tourists and researchers to participate and learn more about this turtle population. On average this area has 800 nests of green turtles, 40 of olive ridleys, and sporadic nests of leatherback, loggerhead and hawksbills. With these efforts more than 80,000 hatchlings are helped every year to get to the ocean. Billion Baby Turtles program supported this project with a grant of US $10,000.

Comunidad Protectora de Tortugas de Osa, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

This Organization protects especially olive ridleys and green turtles and sporadically hawksbills and leatherbacks at 3 beaches (Playa Carate, Pejeperro and Río Oro). Since 2019 Tortugas de Osa monitoring and research projects offer the opportunity to involve different local actors, volunteers and conservation organizations, to contribute to the protection and monitoring of marine turtles. This is a community-led conservation association that aims to integrate local people in the conservation of the highly biodiverse Osa Peninsula, and more specifically the busy sea turtle nesting beaches of Rio Oro and Carate. They focus on marginalized communities in rural areas where individuals are looking to make positive change away from mining, hunting and poaching inside the Corcovado National Park area. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US$ 10,000 for this year. 

Olive ridley hatchlings from Costa Rica. Photo: COPROT

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Tortuguero, Costa Rica 

Sea Turtle Conservancy has conducted research and monitoring Tortuguero Beach since the mid-1950s. Tortuguero hosts a globally important green turtle rookery that regularly receives more than 100,000 green turtle nests per year. From 2010 through 2020, green turtle nesting at Tortuguero has ranged from a low of 48,625 nests in 2017 to a high of 180,310 nests in 2010. During this ten-year timeframe, the average annual number of green turtle nests was 109,868 nests. STC recorded 68,453 nests in 2020, which continued what appears to be a recent downward nesting trend that STC has observed since 2014. This beach produces around 8,230,212 green turtle hatchlings every season. This is the first year that SEE Turtles support this project with a grant of US $10,000 through our Billion Baby Turtles program.

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Soropta, Panama 

Soropta Beach is a 14-km Beach hosts between 200 – 800 leatherback nests per year, making it one of the most densely nested beaches for this species in the region. Unfortunately, illegal hunting of leatherback nests remains an issue due to its isolated location, relative ease of access and cultural tradition of sea turtle egg and meat consumption in the area.  In 2021 this beach had the a record of 1,484 nests at this beach but lost 48% of them due to illegal take. In 2022, STC is implementing a two-pronged approach to curtail illegal egg taking: implementing a hatchery and directly housing law enforcement personnel at STC’s Biological Research Station. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with a grant of US $7,000 in addition to bringing our first Panama conservation tour this year.

Nesting leatherback from Soropta, Panama. Photo: Brad Nahill / SEE Turtles

Estación Las Tortugas, Mondonguillo Beach, Costa Rica

Estación Las Tortugas is a sea turtle nesting project to help protect the vulnerable leatherback sea turtle from the illegal egg collection and to help its recovery on a national and international level in the 3 km beach. Being part of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, and together with the other beaches on that coast side of Costa Rica, this beach is part of one of the most important nesting sites in the world for the Atlantic leatherback sea turtle. This project protects every year between 300 and 600 nests of leatherbacks and sporadic nests of green and hawksbill turtles and more than 12,000 baby turtles are helped to the ocean every year. Billion Baby Turtles supported Estación Las Tortugas with a grant of US $2,000 this season.