Monthly

Achievement Report
Jalova, October 2014

Successful partnerships and marine turtle conservation in action

Summary
This month paid witness to the successful hatching of rescued green turtle eggs, following conservation
efforts by GVI Jalova staff and volunteers and the Tortuguero National Park (TNP) Rangers.

Objectives
The turtle project in Jalova monitors the hatching success rate of nests marked by the GVI staff and
volunteers during the green turtle nesting season (June to November) on a three mile stretch of beach. In
August of this year the park rangers in TNP confiscated over 900 turtle eggs from poachers in one night. The
rangers asked the GVI staff if they could help take care of the eggs. Staff and volunteers buried the eggs
following rescued egg protocol for TNP, and monitored them for 60 days to see if any of the eggs would be
viable and if any hatchlings would survive the nesting process despite being disturbed by human
interference.

Report

The typical life cycle of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) starts with an egg laid and buried,
amongst hundreds of other eggs, and hundreds of other nests,on the beach at Tortuguero on
Costa Ricas Caribbean coast. If lucky, thath egg hatches and a turtle hatchling makes its way into
the ocean. Many years later, that same hatchling, now grown intoan adult female, returns to the
same beach and lays her own nest. In this case, that night was 12 August 2014 and that beach just
happened to fall within the area survey by volunteers and staff of GVIs Jalova Research Station.
On that same night there was a group of poachers in the Tortuguero area. Poaching turtles nests
for eggs is still a fairly common practice on Costa Ricas Caribbean beaches, and one of the reasons
having the beach as a protected area, where research programs combined with patrols by park
rangers greatly discourage poaching, is so important to the protection of these nests. Poaching
activity within the national park and protected areas is much lower than on
unpatrolled/unprotected beaches. On this particular evening, the poachers dug up the nest of the
female turtle (and a number of other nests) and removed the eggs for personal consumption and
to sell locally. Turtle eggs have long been considered both an aphrodisiac and a delicacy in this
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region as well as other

parts of Costa Rica, and black market sale of those eggs still occurs in many places.


The 12th of August was a busy night on the Tortuguero beach, as the TNP Rangers were conducting
one of their regular night patrols. They came across the poachers and found over 900 fresh turtle
eggs in hessian sacks. As it is currently illegal to disturb the turtle nests and remove eggs for
consummation or resale, the rangers arrested the poachers and took possession of the turtle eggs.


The turtle eggs would not survive outside their nest; and in fact the longer the eggs remain outside
the nest the less likely embryos will develop to hatchlings. In the first 24 hours of the eggs
existence, the embryo attaches itself to the shell. Movements and changes in the temperature can
cause the embryo to fail. Knowing that the confiscated eggs were in danger, the rangers therefore
contacted GVI Jalovas turtle project leader Renato Bruno (aka Chief) and asked if there was
anything that could be done to save the potential turtles.
GVI Jalova has been working successfully with the TNP Rangers for over ten years. The rangers are
very familiar Jalovas turtle conservation project (in partnership with the Sea Turtle Conservancy)
and work closely with GVI on many different conservation and education initiatives, even having
GVI staff accompany them on patrols; particularly in turtle nesting season when jaguar predation
of marine turtles (studied by GVI) is at its peak and the beach is adorned with hundreds of
hatchling tracks. GVI staff were happy to answer the call and assist the rangers with the eggs.

The morning of the 13 August 2014 was an auspicious one. The suns early morning rays did not
put off Jalova staff and volunteers from digging 7 surrogate nests. The nests were dug on the
beach near the GVI Jalova Base and the rescued eggs carefully buried inside. The nests were
carefully marked (each one given the name Extra and a

number) to enable volunteers and staff to keep a daily check of the fate of the nests (alongside all
the natural turtle nests marked by the Jalova team). Each day the staff and volunteers on the nest
check survey would check the flagging tapes and if the nest had been disturbed by factors such as
predation (by other animals), erosion or possibly disturbed by another turtle nesting on the beach.

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The

nests

were

monitored every single day until they were excavated at 60 days out, following standard
procedure.
On the 10 October, the nest check team noticed a depression at the nest sites. The depression
indicated hatchling activity (a very positive sign). Four days later, the 14 October, the nests were
excavated by staff members Renato Bruno, Charlotte Oxley and Jizel Miles and a number of the
volunteers. During the excavation the nests were carefully dug open and all eggs (shells and
deceased hatchlings) removed and counted. The excavation team counted the empty egg shells
and opened all whole eggs to find out if the embryos had successfully grown; and if not at what
stage of development they had achieved. The excavation teams found in surrogate nest Extra 8 a
deformed twin embryo and in nest Extra 9 an albino embryo. Such deformities are not uncommon
in relocated nests; where the rotation of the eggs after nesting can cause the embryos to develop
differently. The deformity in these embryos are the likely reason why they did not fully develop
and hatch. See figure 1 photograph of an albino embryo.


During the excavation many of the eggs showed no embryos (the most likely cause being the
disturbance from the poaching and re-burying in the first 24 hours of the eggs existence) however
a number of eggs in each of the surrogate nests resulted in hatchlings making their way out of the
nest and leaving empty shells behind. In particular, it was encouraging that Extra nests 7 and 8 had
a hatchling success rate of 37% and 43% respectively. Although this is a success rate of less than
half of the eggs laid, as a surrogate nest, following poaching, any hatchlings were considered a
success. This is fantastic news for the Green Turtle who laid her eggs back in August and a
wonderful example of how the Rangers and GVI Jalova staff and volunteers make a positive
difference to the conservation efforts in TNP.
The success rate of Green Turtle hatchlings making it to adulthood is about one in a thousand. This
is why it is so important and encouraging that the partnership GVI Jalova has with the TNP Rangers
resulted in the successful incubation and hatching of the turtles. This could not have been
achieved without the support of the many volunteers who have worked with the Jalova team this
turtle season.
On reaching the ocean the hatchlings they made it will have many other obstacles to avoid if they
are to make it adulthood; but we are hopeful that for some they do live happily ever after.

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Figure 2 photograph
Green Turtle hatchling successfully making its way to the ocean

Sharon Barton, Field Staff, Jalova

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