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2 Responses to “Satellite Tracking Turtles Reveals Migration Secrets…”

1. 1 Pedro Vargas
   Saturday, 26 July 2008 at 12:50 pm

   Playa Grande neighbors go to court for damage to leatherback turtles

   On July 1, an appeal for protection was filed before the Constitutional Court by the Playa Grande Neighbors Association, arguing serious damage is being caused to the leatherback turtles that come to nest on the Guanacaste beaches of Playa Grande and Playa Ventanas.

   Julio Saenz, a member of the community group, said he was going “to present proof that scientific research led by the organization The Leatherback Trust (President Jim Spotila), has made it so that these endangered turtles are not coming back to nest on these beaches, which are part of the Las Baulas Marine National Park.”

   The experiment being questioned was conducted for scientific reasons. However, the Playa Grande Neighbors Association has indicated that none of the turtles fitted with the radio transmitters returned to their nesting site. That’s the main reason for the appeal for protection (recurso de amparo) that they filed with the Constitutional Court, and which is now being reviewed by its magistrates.
   Of the 27 turtles that were outfitted with the devices in the 2003-2004 season, none returned to their nesting site, despite the fact that leatherbacks return to their nests, on average, 3.7 years after the time they migrated.

   This information was presented in the reports issued by researchers with The Leatherback Trust, and which the Playa Grande neighbors have copies of. Meanwhile, 40 other turtles that were not given a transmitter, also on the 2003-2004 season, did return to their nests the following season.

   In this sense, the appeal for protection accuses The Leatherback Trust of violating a series of international agreements ratified by Costa Rica for the protection of flora and fauna, according to article 7 of the country’s Constitution. The complainants are asking the Constitutional Court to ban experiments done with the turtles, as they could generate “an irreversible effect against the environment, according to the appeal presented against SINAC, the Tempisque Conservation Area, and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE).

2. 2 Jared
   Saturday, 26 July 2008 at 5:12 pm

   Interesting points you have made, i didn’t know any of that, thanks for giving us the update