Wildlife Conservation Nicaragua Project #43504

Save the Sea Turtles

by Paso Pacifico

Project Report | Sep 7, 2022
A wave of sea turtle news

By Sarah Otterstrom | Executive Director

Dear friend,

We want to give you a couple important updates on the sea turtle project you’re supporting.

Over the last quarter, 16,667 green sea turtle eggs have hatched on our beaches! In the eastern pacific, this endangered species is primarily found in the beaches of Central America where it nests. In addition, we protected 302 olive Ridley sea turtles -- all of this in just a few months with your support. These numbers include turtles protected in partnership with us at Rancho Santana, a resort that works in close partnership with our sea turtle program.

One species of a particular importance is the hawksbill sea turtle which is critically endangered. You can read a short blog post about why the open beach nesting subpopulation that you help us protect is so important to the species survival. Here is the blog. We have one hawkbill nest under our care and had a total of 53 hatched hawksbills!

The last week has been difficult for us. There has been a mass event of sea turtles that have washed ashore on beaches of Nicaragua. The greater portion of these have been dead green sea turtles and there are arguments as to why this could be. It could be caused by fishing boats but it could also be the result of a red tide. Last week, we went out with scientists from UNAN Managua who collected water samples to see if they could detect red tide. Although these developments are heartbreaking, the support that you provide gives us the wherewithal to continue our effort to protect sea turtles.

Your support is so valuable to the future of sea turtles in the eastern pacific, and we thank you for being here with us during this challenging time.

Deceased sea turtle

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Apr 28, 2022
We need your vote for sea turtles!

By Sarah Otterstrom | Executive Director

Turtle nursery before repairs

Dear friend,

After nonstop protection, you helped make a difference for sea turtles this year.

Now, we need your vote today. Thanks to our amazing supporters, our decoy sea turtle egg with a tracking device has made it to CBS network's Innovation Nation's contest called #MoMadness. This Twitter-exclusive competition ends Friday the 29th OF April! Please help us by voting for the GPS turtle egg, a technology that can be used to track illegal sea turtle trade and save sea turtles. Take a moment to vote today and share with your friends on Twitter!

Some other great news is that our rangers have documented one of our most productive nesting cycles yet. Since our last report, we’ve released 1225 endangered green sea turtles in Ostional and Brasilon beaches, and an additional 700 sea turtles of various species at our nursery at El Coco Beach! The work you generously uplift is making a difference across communities.
Last year, the sea turtle nursery in Ostional became unsafe for incubating baby turtles. But your generosity helped rebuild a better nursery! It now has a whole new canopy to shield the sand and keep it cool. Walls secure the nests from predators. And rangers can more easily care for the turtle nests, leading to more success and baby sea turtles.

To celebrate Earth Day, rangers and Junior Rangers removed trash and plastic debris from six beaches all of last week. The kids' enthusiasm shone brightly as they helped improve turtle nesting habitats, work that you make possible by being a GlobalGiving supporter!

In case you didn’t hear it, Happy Earth Day! We are so inspired by our donors and the passion you have for protecting sea turtles. We hope that you will vote for us on Twitter, and that you will also continue supporting our sea turtle program. Thank you so much!

With enthusiasm,

Sarah

Turtle nursery after repairs

Rangers picking up trash for Earth Day

Your donations support sea turtles like these

Baby sea turtles just after hatching

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Dec 29, 2021
In the media, on the hunt to save sea turtles

By Sarah Otterstrom | Executive Director

Critically endangered hawksbill hatchlings

Dear Friend,

We have some exciting new updates about our sea turtle efforts that you’re supporting!

Over the last six months, your support has enabled us to protect over 92 endangered green turtles and 3 critically endangered hawksbill nests. Our team of community rangers, together with local volunteers has been working round the clock during this time period, making sure that the nests are not damaged by other animals like dogs and vultures, while also keeping watch out for additional nests. Thank you for making this possible.

The InvestEGGator decoy sea turtle egg that you helped us to launch was featured on The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca on CBS! Our executive director Dr. Sarah Otterstrom and conservation scientist Dr. Kim Williams-Guillén were interviewed about our remarkable technology that is helping save sea turtles! We couldn’t be more thankful to our donors for supporting us on our journey. From science articles to our GlobalGiving campaign to being on this show, you’ve been with us all along and for that, we are so grateful. You can find our segment on Youtube. We would like to share that the eggs are being deployed in south america and the Caribbean this winter, providing law enforcement with critical information.

In our latest efforts to make sure that baby sea turtles enter the ocean safely, 7 our Junior Rangers who have assisted the adult ranger team, helping a nest of over 65 hatchlings return to the sea!
We participated in Sea Turtle Talks, a Twitter event that gathers scientists all across the world to present their research in a series of tweets. Our presentation was about the subpopulation of Eastern Pacific Hawksbills in Central America. Our presentation shed light on the turtle and our efforts to track uncovered that female adult hawksbill sea turtles in the region are spending much of their time in mangrove estuaries where they feed and can be safer from boats and nets.
Paso Pacifico rangers, Junior Rangers and hotel Rancho Santana came together to participate in the International Coastal Cleanup in September. Together, they cleaned up 5 nesting beaches, making room for female turtles to nest safely on the beach!
Our community rangers had the opportunity to witness Eastern Green Sea Turtles mating during an ocean survey made possible by your support! You are helping us protect a region that is one of the most important breeding sites for green sea turtles in Central America.

We are so thankful for your love for sea turtles! Your passion fuels our conservation work and keeps sea turtles protected.

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year,

Sarah Otterstrom

Executive Director

Community ranger measuring Eastern Pacific Green

Community ranger validating nest hatching

Baby green sea turtles! Thank to you!!

Links:

CBS Innovation Nation Feature story of InvestEGGator decoy egg

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