Land Tortoise
Lion Cub
Turin City Square
Baby Elephant
Fruit and Vegetable Market in Riobamba
CVA Gallipoli Team 2006
Aussie Crew
COSTA RICA
Visit beautiful, exotic Costa Rica!
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Conservation Volunteers Australia is offering two sea turtle programs in Costa Rica during 2008:
Pacuare Reserve (Caribbean Sea)
Program dates: Monday 28th April to Tuesday 12th May 2008 (14 nights/15 days)
The main project activities involve night patrols and hatchery shifts. Other daytime activities at the project may involve beach cleanup and small projects. There are generally multiple nightly patrols between 8pm and 4am or an early morning patrol to collect the eggs from nests laid overnight. At night, each patrol is led by an experienced Research Assistant as the group walks a sector of the 7km beach searching for nesting females. Volunteers should expect to walk up to 12kms at night on the beach - distances may vary on each patrol.
Once a turtle is encountered on a night patrol, the volunteers work directly with the turtle taking carapace (shell) and nest dimension measurements, collecting eggs and assisting the leader tag the flippers of the turtle. The collected eggs are either left natural, relocated to a safer place on the beach or taken to the hatchery where the volunteers on shift will build a new nest to specification and transplant the eggs. The number of eggs, nest location and turtle identification information (tag numbers) are then recorded by the hatchery attendant for further data analysis including hatchling survival rate.
The station is called “Quelonios del Caribe” which roughly translates as “Caribbean station for shelled animals”. The beach is 7kms long. The project location is at North Pacuare, 40kms from Limon and forms part of two leatherback turtle projects in the area which together has more than 800 nests a season. The Pacuare area is the most important nesting sites in Central America for this critically endangered species. The region has the highest number of nesting leatherbacks of the five projects on this Caribbean side of Costa Rica.
Program Price: $1,720 includes
- One night Backapcker accommodation on arrival (Sunday 27th April)
- Briefing and information kit
- Bus transfers to and from project site
- Accommodation full duration of the program
- Meals, breakfast, lunch, tea daily
Playa Langosta (Pacific Ocean)
Program dates: Monday 1st December - Saturday 13th December (12nights/13days)
Project activities on this long running leatherback nesting project involves night patrols and day hatchery shifts. There are generally multiple nightly patrols between 8pm and 4am and each patrol is led by an experienced Research Assistant as the group walks multiple laps of the 1.3km long beach searching for nesting females.
Once a turtle is encountered on a night patrol, the volunteers work directly with the turtle taking carapace (shell) and nest dimension measurements, collecting eggs and assisting the leader tag the flippers of the turtle. The collected eggs are either left natural, relocated to a safer place on the beach or taken to the hatchery where the volunteers will build a new nest to specification and transplant the eggs. The number of eggs, nest location and turtle identification information (tag numbers) are then recorded by the hatchery attendant for further data analysis including hatchling survival rate.
Playa Langosta is a significant nesting beach in Parque Nacional Las Baulas (the Leatherback National Park) and together with data from nearby Playa Grande, the projects help to determine the rate of decline of this species in this important fishing region of Central America. Green and Olive ridley sea turtles also nest at Playa Langosta but in smaller numbers.
Program Price: $1,680 includes
- One night Backapcker accommodation on arrival
- Briefing and information kit
- Bus transfers to the project site
- Accommodation full duration of the program
- Meals, breakfast, lunch, tea daily
It’s easy to book - simply:
- Click on the country that you are interested in then read the program notes
- Carefully read the Booking terms & Conditions
- Complete an Online Application Form
- Download a List of Essential Items
- Any questions? Check out our FAQ, email info@conservationvolunteers.com.au or Freecall 1800 032 501.
