Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION
One of the most poignant scenes in the natural world is the laborious nesting process of the
female
turtle
as she drags herself up the beach beyond the high tide mark, excavating a
hole with her flippers, before depositing fifty to two hundred eggs, their sex later determin-
ed by the temperature of the sand. After around sixty days, usually under cover of darkness,
the hatchlings break out from their shells en masse and scuttle down to the sea, unless they
become disoriented by lights or emerge in daylight and are picked off by sea birds. Each
egg has less than a one in a thousand chance of reaching maturity.
Of the five species of turtle found in the country, four are known to nest along the beaches
of Bocas del Toro. Historically the
hawksbill
(
eretmochelys caretta
) and
green turtle
(
che-
lonian mydas
) reproduced prolifically on the province's sands but over the last fifty years,
as eggs were overharvested and adults killed for their meat and shells, the populations
were decimated - though significant numbers of hawksbill still nest on Islas Zapatillas
(May-Sept). The 29km expanse of Playa Chiriquí, which lines the Golfo de los Mosqui-
tos, east of the Peninsula Valiente, is the most important rookery in all Central America
for gigantic
leatherbacks
(
dermochelys coricea
). Measuring around 1.5m on average and
weighing half a ton, these leviathans dig seven thousand nests annually (March-June). In
contrast, there are scarcely any records of
loggerheads
(
caretta caretta
) nesting in Bocas,
though they can occasionally be spotted here swimming in the archipelago's shallows.
VOLUNTEERING
For the last few years, ANAM has been working together with various national and interna-
tional bodies monitoring and tagging turtles and patrolling beaches. The main beaches in-
volved are Playa Larga and Cayos Zapatillas, Playa Chiriquí in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé
and Playa Soropta in the Humedales de San San Pond Sak. Volunteers are needed to help
with the work and a week is the minimum period for volunteering (March-July); visit the
Endangered Wildlife Trust next to ANAM (
757 9962,
TURTLE-WATCHING TOURS
ANABOCA ( 6553 6556,
anaboca.org
), a community tourism organization leads two
turtle watches per evening (9pm & 10.30pm) in the breeding season (April-Sept) on Playa
Bluff. The cost is $15/person for the two-hour tour, though transport from Bocas is not in-
cluded. Tickets should be purchased in advance from their office in Bocas on C 2 and Av
“G” (upstairs).
While watching turtles can be a captivating experience, bear in mind that female turtles
can easily be spooked into not depositing their eggs. Avoid bright clothes and try to go
when there is a good moon, so as not to be tempted to use a torch (unless infrared), leave
your camera behind and maintain a respectful distance from the turtle.
