Leatherback Sea Turtle Nesting at Gandoca Beach in Caribbean Costa Rica: Management Recommendations from Fifteen Years of Conservation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Field research was conducted, from 1990 to 2004, at Gandoca Beach (9°59.972′N, 82°60.530′W), located within the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge at the southernmost extreme of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Nightly patrols of the 8.85-km nesting beach were undertaken annually from the second week of February through the last week of July, and pertinent information regarding the nesting process was recorded. An estimated 90% of all nesting females were documented and uniquely tagged; these 2751 females deposited 8766 nests (believed to be a complete count). Averaged over the 15-year study period, 12.5% of all nests were left unaltered in situ; 12.9% were left in situ, with tracks camouflaged by beach patrollers; 33.9% were relocated to lower risk zones on the beach; and 25.4% were relocated to beach hatcheries. Poaching, which had once claimed nearly 100% of all eggs laid, averaged 15.5% annually during the study period, demonstrating a clearly declining trend, attributable to the p...