Dispatches
Central America Expedition 2010: Day 5 – Leatherback Trust, Costa Rica
March 9, 2010
Our second day with Leatherback Trust was Turtle Festival Day at Playa Grande, with local residents turning out in force to watch the parade wind down the main road through the village to the Las Baulas Marine National Park headquarters. The parade featured students from the region and beyond (including the Bullis Charter School group from California) holding banners with conservation-oriented messages. “I AM THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD BUT I AM IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION,” read one. “NO TO EXTINCTION. LET’S SAVE THE LEATHERBACK TURTLE,” said another. The parade was followed speeches, skits, and musical numbers by local people of importance and the different school groups.
After the festivities we interviewed Laura Jaen, a guide at Las Baulas National Park and president of the women’s association of Matapalo, which works to promote environmentally sound behavior and education. Afterward Rob and Ryan headed off with some of the researchers from Leatherback Trust to watch them excavate a former nesting site and count the number of eggs for an estimate of how many turtles had hatched there.
We wrapped up the daylight hours with an interview with Jim Spotila on the beach at sunset. As Jim recounted his experience working with turtles and his experience in founding and directing Leatherback Trust, we attracted the attention of a beachgoing tourist, who came up and stood listening to Jim’s story. He turned out to be a visitor from Canada who overheard Jim’s comments and wanted to express his sincere gratitude for the work that Leatherback Trust is doing. “Your work is the reason we decided to stay here rather than over in Tamarindo,” he told Jim. “We appreciate everything you’ve done to keep this place undeveloped and safe for the turtles.” After everything we had seen and heard during our time at Playa Grande it was gratifying it was to hear such a spontaneous endorsement of Leatherback Trust’s work.
