Female leatherback turtles lay a clutch of 80 to 85 fertile eggs They might nest several times in one spring-summer season The hatchlings emerge during the night 55 to 75 days later Jose’s sea turtle conservation program on the Pacific coast is a combination of everything from science lessons to puppet shows Jose attempts to discourage people from poaching precious turtle eggs He also patrols all the nesting beaches to protect the endangered creatures Thanks to Jose’s work more than 90 percent of leatherback turtle nests on the Pacific coast are protected Before the project started nearly every egg laid was taken to sell for food 6
FIELD NOTES An animal is considered critically endangered when it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future Marine biologists are often involved in research and conservation of threatened and endangered marine animals and plants All sea turtles found in US waters are listed under the Endangered Species Act ESA Source NOAA green turtle hawksbill turtle Kemp's ridley turtle leatherback turtle loggerhead turtle olive ridley turtle 7
CENTRAL AMERICA COSTA RICA Goldring-Gund Marine Biology Station in Las Baulas National Park in Costa Rica is also in Central America It is run by The Leatherback Trust TLT an organization devoted to saving sea turtles especially leatherbacks As many as 24 researchers at the station work together to study and help nesting turtles They also host students from middle and secondary schools in field-based learning programs Research teams measure the sizes of turtles as they return from the sea to lay eggs Many of the turtles have satellite tags that track their movements How does satellite turtle tracking work wt orbiting satellite receiving station online map generation turtle with transmitter 8 data processing
The tags were implanted when the turtles were first hatched or found on the beach The tag data tells scientists how far the turtles travel in search of their favorite food jellyfish The scientists can even find out how fast the turtles swim and how deep they dive The tags also tell about environmental hazards that might hurt the turtles The lion’s mane jellyfish is the world’s largest jellyfish It is a favorite food of leatherback turtles The turtle snags the jellyfish with its pointed lip Backward-pointing spines in the turtle’s mouth and throat trap the prey as it is gulped down 9
