EnglishAdelayde Rivas, our PR guru in Managua shares a sad story.
The other day she got a call from Paso Pacifico, informing her of an arribada at La Flor, the sea turtles were arriving to nest on the beach. She set aside a mountain of work and errands in Managua to head for the coast, dig her feet into the clean sands of the La Flor Wildlife Refuge, and take pictures of these noble creatures.
She and her camera man arrived at the beach just after midnight. Turtles were still coming ashore to nest on the beach, but she’d missed the huge wave that had arrived earlier — almost 16,0000 turtles had already come and gone. They set up camp and waited until dawn.
The turtles kept arriving, not as many as before, but they were arriving and Adelayde and her camera man got a lot of great photos of turtles digging their nests and laying eggs.
Eventually she and Salvadoran wildlife biologist Ivan Rodriguez took a walk. They came across what they at first thought was a large piece of plastic, only to realize it was a dead turtle. Ivan, noticing nylon thread coming from her mouth, suggested it was very likely the turtle had gotten caught in fishermen’s lines and hooks. It appeared the fishermen had lifted her into their boat to cut the line and release her, but it was not enough. She made her way to shore, but apparently died of internal injuries before she could lay her eggs.
There were over 27,000 turtles who successfully nested on the beach during this arribada, but Adelayde reflects on the foolishness of man. Knowing turtles already face the threat of multiple predators ranging from foxes and dogs, to birds and crabs, we add more danger to the mix as fishermen’s hooks and nets pose serious risks and poachers raid nests for turtle eggs.
The turtle Adelayde and Ivan found dead was probably 25-30 years old, reminding us that it takes a long time for turtles to reach the mature reproductive age. Every fisherman’s hook, every turtle egg consumed by man, threatens the survival of this threatened species.
Eco-tourism is helping sea turtles make a comeback as they travel to Nicaragua and spend money to see the arribadas, but it is important to remember that what can happen to the turtles, can happen to us.
Extinction is forever.
Read Adelayde’s story in her own words (in Spanish) on her blog.