From Costa Rica to Marymount

Let's Talk Numbers!

Jennifer Seshadri — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:02:00 +0000

Playa Grande Turtle News 2007-2008
(as of 1/3o/08)

Total Nests on Beach: 428
Total Turtles Visiting Beach: 75
Total New Turtles: 27
Hatchery Hatchlings Released: 853
Estimated Hatchling Success on Beach: 68.5%

What do these numbers tell us?
Of all the turtles that nested on the beach this year it was the first time nesting for 27 of them. They came ashore with no tags and the researchers tagged them this season. The rest already had a pit tag and had visited the beach during a previous nesting season 2-4 years back.
As for the hatchling success for the nests located on the beach, about 2 out of every 3 eggs that were laid hatched, and hopefully these hatchlings made it safely to sea.

Pregunta: About how old do you think some of the 27 "first timers" were? How can you figure that out?

What can be done to reduce the use of plastic bags?

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:30:00 +0000

You may have read in one of the earlier posts on our blog that plastic bags can be extremely harmful to leatherbacks and other marine animals. Check out this article from the New York Times to see what the Irish have done to reduce the number of plastic bags in their country. Ms. O'Doherty you should be very proud of your homeland!

One last look at morning turtle.

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:09:00 +0000

Thank you all so much for following our blog the past few weeks and for posting great comments. Follow the link below to watch our morning turtle returning to sea.

Morning turtle says adios!

Adios Playa Grande!

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Have you ever seen an adult female leatherback in the daylight? We have!

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:30:00 +0000

Meet our "Morning Turtle". On Friday morning, Jan. 25, 2008 we were fortunate enough to see a turtle nest during daylight. She emerged from the sea around 5am and we all rushed from our posts on the beach, and some of us from our beds, to see her. It is very rare that you see a leatherback come ashore to nest in daylight hours, and it's extra special because you can take pictures, something that is forbidden at night.
The first picture is of us in front of her nesting. The last two were taken as she headed back to sea. Notice the tracks, they may look like tractor tracks but they are leatherback tracks!

This was a phenomenal experience, we were only 2 days into the expedition and we got to see a morning turtle-- truly amazing.
Isn't she beautiful!

Answers to recent questions.

Jennifer Seshadri — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:33:00 +0000

1. Shibani: Yes these leatherbacks are the same species as the leatherbacks found off the coast of India. These creatures have an incredibly large range.
2. Daisy: The leatherbacks are not slimy at all. They have a smooth skin and their hard shell is smooth like hard leather but has ridges—there are beautiful creatures.
3. Ms. Purn’s Second grade: Yes, I have seen an injured leatherback. One of the adult females that came to nest while I was patrolling had only 1 rear flipper. It was just a stub, like it had been amputated. She was still trying to use it to nest making the motions, but obviously not moving much sand. She looked pretty experienced; it was not a new injury.
4. ClassIV- A nest of leatherback eggs takes between 60-75 days to hatch. The turtles lay eggs in different places along the same stretch of beach- the beach is about 3.6 Km long. Scientists put satellites on the sea turtles to track their migration and learn about their behavior at sea. Only females come to shore to nest, so their life at sea is still a bit of a mystery.
5. Desire: When a turtle “nests” that means she is emerging from the sea and comes up on the beach to dig a hole in the sand that she will lay her eggs in and then cover them.
6. Daisy: Yes, we sometimes wear headlamps to help us see in the dark.

Great Questions everyone!

How to track a leatherback.

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:09:00 +0000

When looking for leatherbacks, the first thing we usually stumble upon are tracks. They look like tractor tracks.
Do you think the hatchlings seen in this photo are capable of making the tracks in the other photo? If it wasn’t a hatchling track, what was it?

Ready For Evening Beach Patrol!

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:20:00 +0000

While you are all sound asleep, we are gearing up for our evening walks on the beach. Both of us have had the opportunity to count the eggs and take measurements of nesting females. Considering that we are doing all of this in the dead of night, a headlamp comes in quite handy- it may look funny, but without it I don't think we could get a very accurate egg count! Since turtles are sensitive to the light, we need a red filter, the red light is not so disturbing to the turtles. You may also have noticed the matching T-shirts, this is how the rangers recognize us as part of the patrol team. Well we are off to our nightly patrols. Sweat Dreams!

Take a moment to read this interesting article from National Geographic.
It's about a record 647 day long journey made by a critically endangered leatherback. The very species that we are working with here in Costa Rica.

Life in Costa Rica!

Jennifer Seshadri — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:32:00 +0000

Click on the web gallery link below to see more pictures of "Life in Costa Rica"
Http://gallery.mac.com/jensesh#100034

Hatchlings in Motion.

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:56:00 +0000

Click on the link below to see a video clip we filmed of hatchlings that emerged from the hatchery last week and were waiting in a bucket until it was dark enough to release them into the ocean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4bCmVShZNY

Answers to some questions!

Jennifer Seshadri — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:24:00 +0000

Dear Students- some of you have posted questions, I will do my best to answer them but I am currently having trouble finding some of your posts- If you don't find an answer to your question please resend it.
Q1. How many baby turtles does mommy turtle give birth to?
A1. Actually the mommy turtles lay eggs, they do not give birth to live turtles. Each turtle will nest about 5-13 times a season- at about 10 day intervals. Once a turtle has a nesting season she will not return to nest again for about 2 or 3 years. Each nest has about 40-80 eggs in it and about 1 in every 100 eggs is thought to survive and mature to adulthood.
Q2. Are leatherback sea turtles the most endangered turtles.
A2. Yes I believe they are, if not they are a close second.
Q.3 Why do turtles go to the same beach as the one they were born at to lay their eggs?
A3. Some researchers believe that hatchlings get information from the scent of the sand or sensation of the sand on their flippers from their natal beach. This may help give them cues on where to return and lay their own eggs.
Q.4 Do the leatherbacks suffer from cancer or tumors.
A.4 Actually tumors are common in green turtles another species of sea turtles. The cancer and tumors have not been spotted in leatherbacks. The movie some of you saw in class was about sea turtles in general. There are several different species of sea turtles. Leatherbacks are just one type.

Great questions everyone--keep them coming!

Exactly where in Costa Rica is Las Baulas Park, Playa Grande ?

Jennifer Seshadri — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:29:00 +0000

It's a sign-But what does it mean?

Jennifer Seshadri — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:42:00 +0000

This sign is posted at the end of the road that leads to the beach. What does it say and why is it significant to the survival of the leatherbacks?
Feel free to ask your Spanish teacher for help!

The Hatchery

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:16:00 +0000

This weekend we want to share with you some of our experiences in the hatchery. Here are a few pictures of life in the hatchery to give you an idea.

Views of Costa Rica

Jennifer Seshadri — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Sunset at Playa Grande
Playa Grande beach- arial view

Meandering River-arial view
Mountains near San Jose

So let me try to answer some of your questions.

Fiona O'Doherty — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Good morning everyone. Greetings from hot and sunny Playa Grande - for those of you asking about the weather, it has reached the high 90's here every afternoon. Are you jealous? You have been posting some great questions, so I will try to answer as many of them as I can in this post. Yes, there is a nesting season for the turtles - it lasts from September until late February. They end the season with a turtle festival that lasts 2 days. Emily, you asked what we do with the eggs? If the turtle lays her eggs above the high tide line, they are not disturbed. If she lays them below the high tide line, they actually catch the eggs in a container as she is laying them and then, either bring them back to the hatchery, or dig another nest on the beach above the high tide line. The turtle goes into a kind of trance when she is laying the eggs and is unaware of our presence. The trance is caused by a change in hormonal levels. The only thing we have to be sure of is never to step in front of her into her line of vision. Over the course of our fisrt night I saw 5 turtles - 4 leatherbacks and 1 black turtle, which is quite a bit smaller than a leatherback. At one point we had 2 different turtles at different nesting stages on our section of the beach. Not all nesting attmepts are successful. I will put up another post later explaining the nesting process. Kailen, you asked me how fast did the hacthlings go when we had our turtle race. We released them about 20 m from the shore line in dry sand. It took them about 10 minutes to make it to the water. So that's about 2m every minute - 2m is about twice your height. That's pretty fast for a little creature that is only big enough to fit in the palm of your hand, especially considering that it is only a few hours old. So that's it for now - it has been a long night, many more stories to tell, but first I need a little siesta. I promise to post some photos later today.

A little math challenge!

Fiona O'Doherty — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:11:00 +0000

Here’s a little math for you amid all this turtle business. Today I helped triangulate a nest of eggs that was laid last night. This is how the process works. We first located the nest on the beach which was marked with sticks last night. Every 500m along the beach , at the vegetation line on the beach, are markers. From nest we took and recorded 3 measurements. The first measurement was to the nearest beach marker to the south of us, the second measurement to the nearest beach marker to the north of us and the third measurement was straight into the vegetation at the edge of the beach, perpendicular to the shoreline. Later we used previously recorded measurements to locate older nests. My challenge to you is how do we use these measurements in reverse to locate the nests and why is it called triangulation. This is simple Geometry girls!

Challenge Question!

Jennifer Seshadri — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:29:00 +0000

Dear Class VI,
Later this semester we will study evolution and adaptations. An adaptation is any behavioral or physical characteristic that helps an organism (animal in this case) survive. I am challenging you to list and describe at least three (3) adaptations that leatherback sea turtles have that allow them to survive. These can be behavioral or physical traits. Think of what a leatherback needs to survive and then examine what structures or behaviors the turtles have that help them meet these needs. You you can use the resource page linked to the expedition landing page for some sources (The Great Turtle Race- might be a good place to start). You can also use other Marymount approved internet sources.

We will use the information you discover during our study of evolution and adaptations when I return! Good Luck!
Mrs. Seshadri

So last night we saw a ............

Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:38:00 +0000

You guessed it - a great big leatherback turtle! Only one night down and already so much to tell you. Our favourite thing so far was when we released 5 new hatchlings back into the sea. We had our own mini turtle race right there on the beach at around midnight under a beautiful full moon. What fun!!! I'm sorry to say that mine was close to last, but not by much. Ms. Seshadri's won by a flipper! It is incredible how strong and agile they are. They are small enought to fit in the plam of your hand and look like exact minatures of the adults that can reach up to 2m in length.

Getting ready for our first night of beach patrol!

Fiona O'Doherty — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:26:00 +0000

Hi all,
We have the internet back up and running - yay!! In a few hours we go out on our first beach patrol. We are at Playa Grande near a town called Tamarindo in the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica. The beach is part of a National Park, so it is a protected area. It is open to the public during the day, but at night only EarthWatch volunteers, scientists from the station, and Park Rangers can be on the beach. They do allow tour groups with a guide to come onto the beach too, but they have to keep a safe distance back form the turtles and can't touch them the way we can - so it's really pretty special to be allowed to do this. Tonight we are divided into teams of three and patrol different sections of the beach. If we see a turtle coming up to nest, we follow her, wait, and if she decides to lay eggs, begin our work. Hopefully I will be able to give you exact details of what we do tomorrow - so for now I am leaving you in suspense.

Internet Trouble:(

Jennifer Seshadri — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:10:00 +0000

Hello fellow bloggers- we are here and Playa Grande is great.
We are all napping to rest up for our 6 hour beach walk tonight- 11pm to 5am.
I have some great pictures but we are having some computer difficulties- hope to post them tomorrow.
Today I was able to see a baby leatherback-- it was a hatchling being excavated by a researcher. They released it tonight into the ocean--cross your fingers he/she makes it!
Promise to post picture soon.
Have a great night!

It must be exhausting being a leatherback!

Fiona O'Doherty — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Did you know that.....

Leatherbacks travel the furthest distances (up to 12,000 km) and dive the deepest (1200m) of all the turtles.
Leatherback turtles show an amazing knack for travelling across the oceans. They don’t even use the major ocean currents to swim to where they are going. In fact, the turtles completely disregard the direction of the currents.

What am I?

Jennifer Seshadri — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:45:00 +0000

Can you identify this organism and tell me its relevance to the life of a leatherback?

What does it mean to be "Endangered"?

Jennifer Seshadri — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:20:00 +0000

Leatherback sea turtles have been on the Endangered Species List since 1970, what does it mean to say that an animal is endangered? Do you know of any other animals that are currently on the endangered list?

No School Today!

Jennifer Seshadri — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:04:00 +0000

Dear students-
Sorry to leave you hanging, but since school was canceled today I had no choice. Yes you all guessed right, sea turtles can't pull their head and limbs into their shell.
Today I was going to show you a movie about sea turtles to help set the stage for my trip but-no school. So you will see the movie next week with Mr. McCue. Be good while I'm gone and check the blog often. I will be posting some "Challenge Questions" for you to think about. Have a great long weekend! I'll be back in the classroom February 4th!
Ms. Seshadri