Save the Sea Turtles

Dear Friend,

Thanks to your support, we have worked towards greater use of the investEGGator technology to protect sea turtles. We have also been able to sustain our community ranger team during these difficult times. Here are just a few of the developments made possible by your generous donations:

• Earlier this month, the prestigious journal Current Biology published a paper about successful InvestEGGator field trials in Costa Rica. The research was carried out by doctoral student Helen Pheasey from the University of Kent in the UK in collaboration with Paso Pacifico. The study deployed over 100 decoy eggs on both the Caribbean and Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Result demonstrated that nearly a quarter of the eggs were stolen by trafickers. Stolen eggs mostly remain in the coastal and tourism areas, but that a portion of them end up in markets over 100 km away in urban centers.
• We have enjoyed  sharing the results of this study, and at a time when there is so much negative news, the news media has really embraced our positive study results, including BBC, The Economist, The Guardian, NPR's All Things Considered and PRI's The World, Reuters, and over 100 other news outlets from around the world. Congratulations, you are part of these news stories too!
• We look forward to deploying the investEGGator more globally. The South American government which purchased eggs from us earlier this year has solicited a new batch. They must have found them to be a useful tool! Two other countries have reached out to us about deploying the investEGGator in their country, one in Southeast Asia, and another in Central America.
• Thanks to your help, we have been able to continue our community ranger patrols of beaches. Thank you. So far this year, our sea turtle program has had a low number of nesting endangered green turtles (23) relative to other years (average 50). Our community rangers have protected 60 olive ridley nests to date in 2020. One really bright now is that we have successfully protected 4 hawksbill nests, a critically endangered species. 
• We have other positive development to share, including a new partnership in Eastern El Salvador to support a community-led sea turtle monitoring program, and a new partnership with the Autonomous University of Nicaragua in Leon to share sea turtle nesting data and to empower students interested in working with us for their undergraduate thesis projects.

Thank you so much for helping us to roll out the investEGGator technology to stop wildlife crime, and for making it possible for our team of rangers to protect nesting beaches in Central America. Have a beautiful day!

With gratitude,

Sarah

Paso Pacifico

Dear Friends,

Hello from Paso Pacífico! We are so grateful to you for contributing to our "Save the Sea Turtles" project, whose focus was to expand the production and distribution of the InvestEGGator artificial sea turtle egg. Despite the challenges our world is facing, here is some good news regarding this turtle-saving technology:

• InvestEGGator interest continues: Partners and collaborators around the world are looking to work with us on implementing the InvestEGGator technology to save turtles. Presently, we are in talks with an organization that works on turtle nesting beaches in Indonesia. 
• An InvestEGGator thesis paper is entering final stages: In 2018, researcher Helen Pheasey partnered with Paso Pacífico to test the InvestEGGator on beaches in Costa Rica. She has completed her Ph.D. at the University of Kent in the UK. Her research, which supports the InvestEGGator's usefulness and sets a standard for future research, is now under review for publication.
• The InvestEGGator is in the field: The InvestEGGator is being used in a country in South America. We hope to share with you any results we receive from there.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reached Central America, we made adjustments to protect our staff while continuing to save sea turtles. Here are some of the ways that recent donations have been making a difference: 

• Turtle nurseries are ready for the summer nesting season: At our two sea turtle nurseries located in Playa El Coco and Playa Ostional, Nicaragua, our female sea turtle rangers painted fresh educational signs, cleaned up garbage, and sifted the sand, removing debris. Their work prepares the nurseries to house a wave of turtle eggs from summer's increased numbers of nesting sea turtles.
• Sea turtle rangers are focusing their efforts to protect sea turtles and each other: Local economies are suffering. Poaching activity is sharply increasing. In order to safely rotate our turtle rangers on and off beaches and maintain social distancing, we are focusing our efforts on Playa Brasilón, a beach where endangered hawksbill and Eastern Pacific green turtles nest. Food aid is also being given to 270 vulnerable families in our area.
• An international news site picked up our story about sea turtle issues: Highly-respected Spanish news site Mongabay Latam shared our concerns about conditions for protecting sea turtles in Nicaragua during the time of COVID-19. Here, you can read their article. it includes a video with interviews of our female ranger team and our executive director, Dr. Sarah Otterstrom. 
• Kids in local communities are creating sea turtle art: We couldn't resist sharing a photo, above, of one of our Junior Rangers with his painting of a sea turtle! Our Junior Rangers are creating works of art from home for contests sponsored by us (and our donors). Since these children live in communities where poaching is widespread, their advocacy for sea turtles is encouraging poachers to consider better alternatives.

If you would like more news about our work in Central America, you can sign up for our e-newsletter. Thank you again for your support.

Best,

Dr. Sarah Otterstrom

Links:

• New article: Sea turtle conservation during COVID-19 (Spanish)
• Get more news from our e-newsletter!