Record Birthrate Of
Leatherback Turtles In
Costa Rica
Nearly 900 endangered
leatherback turtles were
born at the Junquillal
beach on Costa Rica's
Pacific coastline in
recent months thanks to
community workers that
scare off poachers and
protect the eggs, the
World Wildlife Fund for
Nature said Thursday.
The leatherbacks are
giant migratory turtles
that swim great
distances to nesting
spots in the tropics.
Their main nesting area
in Central America is
Playa Grande, also in
Costa Rica, which is a
protected zone.
Junquillal is an
important leatherback
nesting area but it is
not formally protected.
However during this
nesting season
Junquillal "has probably
become the second most
important beach for
leatherback turtles to
nest in Central America,
due to not only the
number of nests but also
the success in the
number of birth of young
turtles," said Gabriel
Francia, who coordinates
the WWF's Pacific
leatherback turtle
conservation project.
Taking much of the
credit are six young
area residents that
patrol the nearly
six-kilometer (four
mile) long stretch of
beach each night looking
for leatherbacks that
have come ashore to lay
eggs.
Team members will take
note of the time the
turtles crawl out of the
ocean as well as the
weather conditions and
the tide. The team
members then take the
eggs from the beach nest
after the mother turtle
has returned to the
ocean and move them to a
secured hatchery.
The leatherback turtle (dermochelys
coriacea) measures
nearly two meters (6.5
feet) long and can weigh
up to 650 kilos (1,430
pounds), making it the
largest turtle species
in the world.
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