A Costa Rica satellite tagging expedition recently got underway at Cocos Island involving its green sea turtle and hawksbill visitors.
Marine scientists sail Costa Rica open waters for 30 hours or more in their quest of migration habits about these ancient marine animals.
They are engaged in a kind of working vacation in Costa Rica that they anticipate will contribute to saving these marvelous reptilian mariners now endangered in much of their range.
The famous mariner, Jacque Yves Cousteau, once described Cocos Island as the most beautiful island he had ever visited. The small island, less than 10 square miles in area, lies some 340 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, nearly halfway to the Galapagos Islands.
It was not the pretty palm trees or beaches that captivated the Captain. Its beauty lies off its shores, under water, in a place that Costa Ricans have voted one of the Seven Wonders of Cost Rica. It is there that one finds incomparable treasure: tremendous numbers of fish, porpoises and whales and turtles.
Sea turtles have been swimming the oceans of the world since the age of dinosaurs. Imagine T Rex preying on them 200 million years ago when they came ashore to nest.
These ancient creatures are found in all the seas of the world except the frozen Antarctic and Arctic.
Once, the sheer numbers of marine turtles were so massive that mariners, lost in the fog, sometimes found land by listening for sea turtles paddling towards nesting grounds.
Once, not so long ago the raw numbers of sea turtles were still so great that sailors lost in the fog sometimes found their way by listening for the sounds of sea turtles paddling towards ancient nesting grounds. For eons, sea turtles provided food for every kind of creature. Over eons, billions and billions fell prey to mighty animals and trillions and trillions of eggs fed birds and animals, including man, for countless, yet the species' flourished. However, in just a few short, recent generations, man's unrestrained development along every coast and wanton plundering of these animals and their eggs have put these creatures at risk. Whole populations were killed off in South America to make stylish Italian combs, and expensive shoes.
The prescient Captain Cousteau said that: "If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed and if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect." A being visiting from another world might conclude that such a result would be just.
However, international conservation organizations are working to turn around the decline turtle populations. International treaties relating to sea turtles are now in place, though many countries have yet to implement them. Conservation organizations, scientists, and researchers have begun tagging ocean roaming turtles in far away places like Cocos Island, the Galapagos, Columbia, and other areas. Some marine turtles are fitted with numbered flipper tags while others bear satellite transmitters that are tracked around the clock. It is all part of an effort to track their movements.
We cannot undo the past but the men and women who tag sea turtles have faith that we are not condemned to its repetition.
Marine scientists sail Costa Rica open waters for 30 hours or more in their quest of migration habits about these ancient marine animals.
They are engaged in a kind of working vacation in Costa Rica that they anticipate will contribute to saving these marvelous reptilian mariners now endangered in much of their range.
The famous mariner, Jacque Yves Cousteau, once described Cocos Island as the most beautiful island he had ever visited. The small island, less than 10 square miles in area, lies some 340 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, nearly halfway to the Galapagos Islands.
It was not the pretty palm trees or beaches that captivated the Captain. Its beauty lies off its shores, under water, in a place that Costa Ricans have voted one of the Seven Wonders of Cost Rica. It is there that one finds incomparable treasure: tremendous numbers of fish, porpoises and whales and turtles.
Sea turtles have been swimming the oceans of the world since the age of dinosaurs. Imagine T Rex preying on them 200 million years ago when they came ashore to nest.
These ancient creatures are found in all the seas of the world except the frozen Antarctic and Arctic.
Once, the sheer numbers of marine turtles were so massive that mariners, lost in the fog, sometimes found land by listening for sea turtles paddling towards nesting grounds.
Once, not so long ago the raw numbers of sea turtles were still so great that sailors lost in the fog sometimes found their way by listening for the sounds of sea turtles paddling towards ancient nesting grounds. For eons, sea turtles provided food for every kind of creature. Over eons, billions and billions fell prey to mighty animals and trillions and trillions of eggs fed birds and animals, including man, for countless, yet the species' flourished. However, in just a few short, recent generations, man's unrestrained development along every coast and wanton plundering of these animals and their eggs have put these creatures at risk. Whole populations were killed off in South America to make stylish Italian combs, and expensive shoes.
The prescient Captain Cousteau said that: "If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed and if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect." A being visiting from another world might conclude that such a result would be just.
However, international conservation organizations are working to turn around the decline turtle populations. International treaties relating to sea turtles are now in place, though many countries have yet to implement them. Conservation organizations, scientists, and researchers have begun tagging ocean roaming turtles in far away places like Cocos Island, the Galapagos, Columbia, and other areas. Some marine turtles are fitted with numbered flipper tags while others bear satellite transmitters that are tracked around the clock. It is all part of an effort to track their movements.
We cannot undo the past but the men and women who tag sea turtles have faith that we are not condemned to its repetition.
About the Author:
Victor Krumm lives in tropical Costa Rica. You can find his popular site Costa Rica Vacations or check out one of Costa Rica's Seven Wonders Cocos Island
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