STC Calendar

A few months ago I submitted a photo I took this summer for the Sea Turtle Conservancy's 2013 calendar contest, and it won! Since it's been getting colder and school is making me question my sanity right now, this was a much needed surprise. 

The calendar is available on the STC website for $12.95. All proceeds benefit the STC's sea turtle conservation and habitat preservation efforts.

You can look through a PDF of the entire calendar here 

The Last YIIP Blog (finally!)

For our final YIIP blog, Larissa has asked us to compile a list of a few things we have gathered since returning to Canada. I apologize since this is extremely late - time has been flying by since I started school. I can't believe it's already been three months since I've come home!

Five things that I enjoyed about my internship experience are: 
1. Being surrounded by nature 
 2. Meeting and working with other like-minded people 
3. Working my dream job and feeling like I'm making a difference 
 4. Being physically active every day 
5. The wealth of knowledge I gained at the station 

 Five things that bothered me during my internship experience are: 
1. Mosquitoes and sandflies (my legs will never look the same) 
2. Being blinded nearly every night by sand-flinging turtles on the beach 
3. Las cucarachas grandes 
4. Mouldy clothing 
5. Freezing showers in the dark after walking in the rain 

 Five things I missed most about Canada/Toronto: 
1. Friends, family and pets 
2. Warm showers 
3. Clean bathrooms 
4. Sushi 
5. Being able to speak the same language as everyone around me 

 Five things I will miss from my host country: 
1. The three best friends I made this summer 
2. All the inspiring people I met at the station 
3. The abundance and diversity of flora and fauna as well as the breathtaking landscapes 
4. The slower pace of life
5. Pineapple jelly 

 I miss watching the jungle wake up on the dock. 

 The howler monkeys start yelling at distant motor boats, 

 the kiskadees begin squabbling in the trees, 

 and the bats return to their roost for the day. ____________________________________________________________________________________

TOUR DE TURTLES UPDATE! 

Back in July, I was lucky enough to watch a satellite tagged green turtle be released by the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Four months and 1,356km later, Shelldon placed 7th in the race. You can check out the migration map here (Shelldon is just off the coast of Nicaragua currently). Some of the leatherbacks have travelled as far as Newfoundland!

Global Citizenship

As part of our internship, Larissa (our coordinator) has asked us to reflect on the term "global citizenship." Sometimes I feel that the term that has lost its integrity since it is so overused in the discourse at York. With the global population hovering around 7 billion, how could this term possibly be relevant to so many people in so many different situations? Given the influence of politics, religion, freedom, security, economics and many other factors, each individual has a different interpretation of what global citizenship means to them.  Instead of painting a broad picture of global citizenship to be applied to every person on Earth, I will define what the concept means to me. 

Part of my interpretation of global citizenship is the realization that my life has an impact on a much larger scale than what I see at home. In the age of globalization, our lives are becoming increasingly intertwined with places and people we cannot even fathom. Every action that you make, every item that you consume comes from somewhere and I feel that part of global citizenship is the responsibility to be aware of this.  For example, seeing  banana plantations in Costa Rica  has made me realize how much of a negative impact the industry has on the environment and people. Banana plantations are monocultures that have to be maintained with intense applications of chemicals, making them highly unsustainable. Communities that work for the plantations suffer social and health problems such as inequality and sterility from exposure to pesticides. To me, this seems a high price to pay for such a cheap fruit which is why I now refuse to buy bananas. Since returning to Canada, I am trying to be more aware of the broader impacts my life has on those around the world, though it's impossible to live one's life entirely "sustainably." I feel that since I was born into a society with freedom of access to information, part of my responsibility as a global citizen is to use that information to be more aware, and to use that awareness to better the world. 

Another part of what I think global citizenship means is respect for cultures or beliefs different than my own. As someone travelling to a foreign country, it is easy to criticize another person's culture against your own, but much harder to be non-judgemental about things you may not agree with. The poaching of turtles on Playa Norte was something I did not agree with and I tried to not to judge people who poached turtles. Tolerance is crucial if all 7 billion of us are to get along. Though I had a life changing experience this summer, I don't know if I can qualify to call myself a true global citizen after travelling to only a few countries, it seems like an awfully onerous term to me.

Miles for Smiles

Hey everyone! I'd like to announce that I am participating in a fundraiser called 'Miles for Smiles' through COTERC, the organization I interned for this summer. The goal is to raise funds for every mile I walked on the beach this summer (436 in total!) The proceeds go towards sea turtle conservation and for environmental initiatives in the community of San Francisco. If you'd like to donate, please check out the link below:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?charityID=s65321

You can choose to pledge any amount you'd like, for example, if you'd like to pledge 5 cents per mile, the total would be $21.80. Any amount can be pledged, even one cent per mile ($4.36) makes a difference for Costa Rica's biodiversity conservation.

Thank you so much!

-Sarah

Back home

Being back home is very weird, I once heard someone say that the reintegration into your own culture is more startling than the initial culture shock experienced when visiting a foreign country –and I couldn’t agree more. Larissa, the internship coordinator, has asked us to reflect on the cultural differences between our host country and Canada, and while I could go on forever about this topic, I’ll just pick a couple things I’ve noticed during my time spent abroad.

“Pura Vida” is pretty much Costa Rica’s national motto – in Spanish it translates to “the pure life.” It’s a greeting, and also a way of life. During my three months in Costa Rica, I saw this phrase exemplified in the lives of the Ticos I encountered everywhere, as their lives seemed to go at a slower pace than my North American one. I found Costa Ricans to be generally more relaxed and extremely appreciative to live in such a beautiful and prosperous country. "Tico time" is another phrase to describe the lax Costa Rican lifestyle, as nothing is ever on time and things seem to go at their own pace. I found this to be the very opposite of  my North American lifestyle, and the motto:  “time is money”.  I think this says something about my own culture’s obsession with productivity and efficiency, we are too focused on working ourselves to exhaustion. Everything has to be on time and structured and we don't allow ourselves to stop, relax and enjoy the little things. 

Another thing I’ve noticed is the Costa Rican attitude towards what we as North Americans would consider basic safety precautions.  I’ve noticed this in the way that some Ticos raise their children, they do not try to place restrictions on their kids in the name of safety (I have seen SO many Costa Rican babies taking themselves for a walk, pants and/or parents optional.) Contrast this to the way that we raise children in Toronto, with helmets, child leashes, car-seats and constant supervision.

 I’ve noticed that the same applies to the dogs in Costa Rica, which are rarely leashed (unless guarding something) and are allowed to roam through the streets as they wish. Roads do not have guard rails, speed limits are mere suggestions, and I’ve seen a trend in piling an entire family onto a single motorbike.  Coming back to Canada, I felt like everything was too safe, too sterile and too organized. I feel that the North American attitude towards safety is almost hysterical –and I think that is because our culture is too afraid to allow anything bad to happen to ourselves or our loved ones.  

Since I've been home, it's been very easy to make comparisons between Canadian and Costa Rican culture, and I'm still processing the things that I've witnessed while applying the lessons I've learned since April. It's nice to be back in civilization but I miss my pura vida lifestyle!

Week 14

Warning...this is a picture heavy post!!

Kirstin and I left the station early on July 28th, it was so hard to say goodbye to everyone and the place we called home for three months but we were looking forward to enjoying the comforts of civilization!

We met up with a couple of friends from Toronto and drove to Manuel Antonio National Park, on the Pacific side of the country.  On the way, we passed the Tarcoles River, which is famous for it's numerous crocodiles that hang out under the bridge. 

We spent a couple of days at Manuel Antonio and hiked some of the trails. The views of the Pacific ocean were beautiful!

 We also saw the park's white faced capuchins, which were a little more used to people than the ones at the station. We got to see this baby up close.

After a few days in Manuel Antonio, we took a ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula to a small surfing town called Montezuma. 

Somehow I had contracted a terrible flu (which I feared might be dengue) so the ferry ride was treacherous for me. Turns out it wasn't dengue and I only lost one day at our hostel laying in bed wanting to die. Who would have guessed that surfing is an awesome cure for the flu. 

 On our way to Monteverde, we stopped at El Manantial Parrot Sanctuary, an organization that is working to protect Costa Rica's endangered parrot species, such as the Great Green Macaw (Ara Ambiguus) and the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

The sanctuary acts as a rehabilitation centre for many parrots that are threatened by habitat loss and exploitation from the illegal pet trade. Unfortunately, pet macaws that are confiscated by the Ministry of the Environment become too used to people to ever be released into the wild again. Through a breeding program, their offspring are raised and released, and many of them return to the sanctuary year after year to nest (sometimes bringing their wild mates with them!) Programs such as this have allowed Costa Rica's pacific population of Scarlet Macaws to thrive since their severe decline just a few decades ago.

The sanctuary also takes in non-native species confiscated  in Costa Rica:

Sun Conures (Aratinga solstitialis) from South America

 Goffin's Cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana) from Australasia

Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara arauna) from South America

African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus), which have the intelligence of a 5 year old human child

The endangered Hyacinth Macaw (Andodorhynchus hyacinthinus), from South America, the largest parrot in the world. 

From Montezuma we drove into the mountains to Monteverde (for some reason all the places we chose started with 'M"). The drive was beautiful but a little unnerving, given the gravel roads, steep drop offs and lack of a guard rail. 

We even spotted the elusive Resplendant Quetzal (Pharomachrus moccino) at the Curichancha reserve. I was especially happy because I've wanted  to see one since my first visit to Costa Rica in 2008.

A strangler fig, a type of ficus that begins as an epiphyte but grows quickly over top of its host tree, preventing it from obtaining light and nutrients. I'm standing in the empty column where the original tree once was.

Anyway, that's all for now, more blogs and reflections on being home will be posted soon!

Week 13

Total Miles Walked: 436! (702 km)

That's it everyone! Last night was my final night walk, and luckily we saw a green and a hawksbill come up within a few metres of eachother. Our patrol also set the record for longest time waiting on a turtle - 6 hours waiting for one hawksbill to nest (which she didn't end up doing in the end). Since it's been raining so much, she attempted to dig 7 different egg chambers, all of which were filled with water. When she finally gave up, I had a silent goodbye to the last turtle I'll see this summer (though after 6 hours, it was easy to say goodbye).

It's kind of bittersweet to be leaving Cano Palma after three months - there's things I won't really miss (like the mosquitoes and the rain) but I know I'll be missing this place the minute I get on the boat to leave. I'm extremely sad but also excited for what lies ahead. Kirstin and I are leaving the station at 5am tomorrow, and then heading down to Quepos/Manuel Antonio, Montezuma and possibly Monteverde until we come back to Canada on August 6th. 

My last week here wouldn't be complete without the following:

• the six- hour hawksbill halfmoon
• waiting for the six hour halfmoon in a tropical storm
• walking the beach in the light of the moon watching fireflies, lightning, bio-luminescent sand,  and shooting stars
• almost stepping on a strawberry poison dart frog 
• having white-faced capuchins watch me in the shower (I felt violated)
• having spider monkeys in the trees above while I shower (though they didn't stare, they're not as perverted as the capuchins)

Week 12

Miles walked: 419.25


It's been raining here for nearly a month without a single day of sun, and apparently this is "the little rainy season." In just 20 days we've received 730mm of rain, which is almost as much as Toronto's annual rainfall (800mm) This is not surprising since Tortuguero's annual rainfall is about 5000mm. 

The view from our room

The flooded boat dock

A group from Fleming college has been at the station since July5th with their director Josh Feltham, a COTERC board member. They made this video, so you can really see what the rain is like here: http://vimeo.com/46129539


Other than the constant rain, we've been getting lots of turtles every night - mostly greens and even a hawksbill nest last night. Getting to see nesting turtles makes walking for four hours in the pouring rain worth it in the end. Unfortunately, we had another poached green turtle yesterday - just the shell and the head were left on the beach. I'll spare you guys the gruesome pictures this week, but it was very hard for me to see this just before I leave the station. Part of me wants to stay here to continue working on the marine turtle monitoring project, but another part of me misses home a lot. Just thinking about leaving the station gives me so many mixed emotions.I feel so torn - I will miss Cano Palma so much but I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends and being able to wear dry clothing again. I'll try to squeeze another blog in before I leave (July 28th)- until then, hasta luego!

In other news, Cano Palma now has a facebook page! Please like them and spread the word around https://www.facebook.com/CanoPalmaBiologicalStation 

Week 11

Miles walked to date: 395.25


Hey all! After last weeks depressing blog post, I'm happy to post something on a happier  note. On Wednesday night my patrol came upon the tracks of a turtle that had been mostly washed out by the tide, I followed them up to find a Loggerhead turtle digging her nest chamber with her back fins. Loggerheads are extremely rare on this beach - I have been lucky enough to see one come up the beach once before, but the opportunity to see one nest was something else! In fact, this turtle was the first confirmed nesting of Loggerheads in the history of Cano Palma's turtle monitoring program. 

Loggerheads are about the same size as a green turtle, but they have larger heads and shorter limbs. This turtle had a massive head, jaws and 'beak' (to crush crusteaceans) and a raised ridge down the middle of her carapace.

Today I went to Tortuguero to watch the STC (Sea Turtle Conservancy) release a green turtle named "Shelldon" with a satellite tracker. This was part of the "Tour de Turtles" - a race between 15 satellite tagged sea turtles released from various parts of the world. The turtle that swims the furthest on its migration route wins the Tour de Turtles (I'm secretly rooting for the Leatherbacks).

You can track Shelldon's location here! 

http://www.conserveturtles.org/trackingmap.php?id=52

Mariya and I waiting for Shelldon's debut

(I don't have any pictures of the release but a video is coming soon!)

 Shenique is sad that turtles ignore Jamaica.

Not related to turtles, but look! A whale skull!

Week 10

Miles walked to date: 355.5


Warning: you might not want to read this if you're squeamish


Last night our patrol was walking on the beach when we saw the shape of a turtle in the distance, emerging from the sea. The three of us waited for her to move up the beach, but after about a minute it became apparent that something was wrong. Her fins were positioned at awkward angles - instead of sticking out from her body, they were tied to each other underneath her body. Her neck looked larger than normal - and her eyes were bulging out of her head. As soon as I realized that this turtle was dead - my heart sank. 


Here are some pictures that will be used in a report to MINAE (Costa Rica's Ministry of the Environment).

We don't know exactly what happened to this turtle, but her carapace looked like it had been punctured by a harpoon several times,  so she may have been poached offshore. Her body washed onto the beach sometime during the day yesterday (the family I talked to from the house on the beach said they found her at 5:00pm). While examining the turtle all I could think about was an excerpt I read from a masters thesis conducted on this very beach - an interview with a poacher:

"I catch turtle but I don’t like it. It’s ugly…catching turtle is the ugliest thing there is.

Because we put the turtles on their back and we put another one on top…in pairs…and

we peg them together through the flippers. It hurts them a lot and they try to bite. 

Sometimes, when the sea is rough, the turtles bounce and the one that lies on her back breaks her shell, because they are so heavy and their shell isn’t that strong. It’s something…it’s very ugly. Sometimes when the coastguard comes close…we throw them into the water… and these turtles, of course they die because they don’t have their fins to swim. But we don’t have time to cut them loose"

-Frederik J.W. van Oudenhoven (Of Turtles and Tactics, Conservation and sustainable community development in San Francisco, Costa Rica, 2007)

Again, we don't know if this is what happened to our turtle but last night reminded me of this interview. The turtle has been reported to MINAE, though they are not coming to examine it. From what I've been told, the ministry told the family on the beach 'leave it for the vultures.' Sometimes I feel like there is such low concern for Playa Norte from the government. This is why I'm so interested in community based conservation practices, strategies that don't require heavy top-down enforcement.  One project I've been working on in the local community is the creation of anti-poaching posters. Some people in the village will buy meat or eggs but do not see the turtles butchered on the beach. When people are removed from the process, it makes it hard to believe that it is happening not too far from them.  Since most of the people are employed by the tourism industry, their livelihoods depend on nesting turtles that draw in tourists by the thousands. Here's just one of the posters I made using the pictures from last year: 

"Hunters are killing our future.

Do not give support for hunters.

Report with this number"

When I first came to Cano Palma, I was frustrated and even a bit angry when I saw poached nests and pictures of butchered turtles. But for the past two months, I've become less judgmental and more aware of the situations that drive poachers to kill turtles. For one, the consumption of sea turtle meat and eggs has been an important food source for people for thousands of years - only in the past few decades has it been made illegal due to species endangerment. The second issue I have become made more aware of is the disparity in the ecotourism industry, which states that an animal is worth more alive than dead. However, what is often overlooked is who is benefiting from the ecotourism industry. Most of the money from tourism does not go directly to Costa Rican people, since most hotels have foreign owners (Frederik J.W. van Oudenhoven, 2007). It is no wonder that so many people are compelled to poach when the opportunity to make extra money walks right into their front yard.

“I know it’s illegal, and I know we’re killing them to extinction,

but I can’t read or write […] and I don’t have a fixed job...”.

-Interview with a fisherman, Frederik J.W. van Oudenhoven, 2007

If anything, this has motivated me more to be involved in conservation and sustainable development. There are so many issues surrounding turtle poaching in this area that it's very difficult to address all the root causes. From what I've read - people poach for many different reasons: either for their own sustenance, to sell to others, for money to fuel addictions or for organized criminal operations. How it is possible to create a conservation strategy that covers all of that? It's certainly not an easy task, and I feel more compelled than ever to take on the challenge. 

-Thanks to Kirstin Silvera for the turtle pictures, since I wasn't able to take any last night-

__________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE: July 7, 2012. 

Last night another deceased turtle was found on the beach, tied the same way as the first one. The rumor from local community members is that a boat was intercepted by the coastguard, and in the process dumped its cargo of drugs and poached turtles before they could be charged with possession. 

Week 9

Miles walked to date: 322.5


It's officially green turtle season! There has been lots of activity on the beach lately and every night we are seeing signs of greens either nesting or of their half moons (tracks coming onto the beach but with no nest). Some patrols have even seen the turtles mating in the water not far from shore! With all this activity, our jobs have been made a lot harder, not only in trying to reach every turtle to take biometric data, but also in keeping a constant presence on the beach to deter poaching (which reaches its peak during green season). We've already had at least 3 lifted turtles this year, meaning that the turtle came up to nest but was carried away, probably to be butchered for its meat or shell. To combat this, we now have two nightly patrols, instead of the usual one from10pm to 2am. Since the second patrol shift starts at midnight, I've been catching the sunrise while on patrol after a night of watching turtles nest in the moonlight. Sometimes I feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world to have an opportunity like this. 


Here's some pictures of  various herps (reptiles) from this week!

Since Bryce, a herpetologist from California, has been here for the past week, he's been catching and processing various snakes. I got to help with this Fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper), and I didn't die!

measuring tail length from the vent (who knew snakes have tails?)

 Coral Snake (Micrurus alleni) These guys move really fast so it was hard to get a good picture of it (unless it's stuffed into a plastic tube like the one you see here)

 Red-Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychenis callidryas)

Juvenile spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus). I'd like to believe I was actually holding a baby T-rex.

Week 8

Miles Walked to Date: 293

Larissa, the York International Internship coordinator, has asked us to write about our experience as Canadians travelling abroad and how our identity has shaped the way that people percieve us. 

Being at a Canadian biological station in Costa Rica, we live and work with many other Canadians, but when I meet someone from another country, I find myself laughing at how much I fit into the typical Canadian stereotype. I apologize if I offend anyone by making gross generalizations here, please bear with me. When I think of how I percieve other Canadaian travellers I've met, I find most of them to be friendly, quiet, easy-going, and considerate. I'd like to think of myself as fitting this description, since some of my most frequently used Spanish phrases are "perdon" (pardon me) and "lo siento" (I'm sorry).  I try to be as considerate and as helpful as I can be while travelling abroad, especially when interacting with local people in and around the station. I'd like to find out what people think when I tell them I'm Canadian, but since my Spanish is very limited it's hard to know. Most people aren't surprised when I tell them I'm from Canada, I think it's because I'm a blue eyed gringa (Tico slang for white girl) and I say sorry far too much. Also, the fact that I brought maple syrup to the jungle probably gives it away.

More things from this week:

Chillin' with Juancho, who is starting to respond to us calling his name. 

Since a herpetologist has been at the station for a few days, he's been finding all kinds of snakes (some of which were hidden in plain view). We saw two eyelash vipers (Bothriechis schlegelii) on the first day he got here, it's interesting because one was yellow and one was green yet they are from the same species. The variation in colour is due to phenotypic expression of a certain gene - some are even pink or purple. 

Yellow Eyelash Viper

Green Eyelash Viper

Our resident herp man with a parrot snake bird-eating snake (Thanks to Melissa Coakley for helping me correctly ID this one!)

Bird-eating snake (Pseustes poecilonotus)

Turnip tailed gecko (Theodactylus rapicauda)

Since Playa Norte had lots of Leatherback nests laid in April, we are starting to see hatchlings emerge and go to the sea during morning census. I've been excavating nests for the past three days and I've seen so many babies! (with just a few rotten, maggot-infested nest chambers of course).

I look like I'm having fun but I smelled awful

On Thursday all the York Interns went to Tortuguero for a bit of pizza - a nice break from a diet of almost entirely rice and beans.  Living here makes me appreciate the little things so much more!