News + Stories

Sea Turtles / 21.06.2017

Blogpost written by Marina Garrido, Sea Turtle Volunteer   World Sea Turtle Day was just last week and the sea turtle team at Osa Conservation was super excited. Why? Because to us, it is not just a day, but a day in which we hope the whole world can remember and think about, even if just for a moment, these amazing animals. Sea turtles are one of the most ancient animals alive. They belong to the family Quelonidae, which  also encompasses terrestrial turtles. One interesting fact about sea turtles, is...

Uncategorized / 06.06.2017

Blogpost written by Robert Baker, Volunteer Hi, my name is Bob Baker. For the past 10 years, my wife Lindsay and I have come to the Osa Peninsula for two weeks every March. We come to enjoy what National Geographic calls the “most biologically intense place on earth.” We typically stay in vacation rentals in the Cabo Matapalo area which is about 18km south of Puerto Jimenez at the tip of the peninsula. Last March (2016), we arranged to visit Osa Conservation's biological station and during our visit,  Manuel...

Environmental Education, Volunteers and Visitors / 04.02.2011

By: Vickie Buisset Volunteering with the FOO Sea Turtle Research Program was a wonderful experience.  My observations and field notes taken while on the Osa Peninsula were used to complete the final independent study project of my Master of Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).  The topic of my independent study project was Global Threats of Sea Turtles.  I graduated from VCU in December of 2010 and feel very lucky to have had this volunteer/research opportunity on the beautiful Osa Peninsula.  The personnel at the FOO Sea Turtle...

Science and Research, Sea Turtles / 30.11.2010

Today SEE Turtles launched its effort to raise money for Friends of the Osa’s annual Sea Turtle Festival.  SEE Turtles is a project of the Ocean Foundation that promotes conservation tourism by acting as a resource for travelers to connect with volunteer programs or to donate to organizations protecting sea turtles and educating communities.  Through the matching fund launched today, you can donate to support FOO’s Sea Turtle Festival in 2011. [caption id="attachment_1857" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Children perform the life cycle of sea turtles at the Second Annual Osa Sea Turtle...

Science and Research, Sea Turtles / 20.10.2010

By Phoebe Edge, Research Field Assistant (RFA) , Sea Turtle Conservation Program. What turtle has the best eye sight? A SEE TURTLE! And that´s why it´s so important that we make sure on night patrols that we spot the ladies before they spot us…the last thing we want to do is scare them back to the sea. A good turtle detective just doesn´t do that. An Olive Ridley could have swum thousands of miles to get to this specific beach  which is why here at Friends of the Osa we do...

Science and Research, Sea Turtles / 29.09.2010

By Phoebe Edge, Research Field Assistant (RFA) , Sea Turtle Conservation Program. [caption id="attachment_1494" align="alignright" width="300"] Park guards and lodge employees on the beach for the sea turtle workshop[/caption] On all of the morning and night patrols we collect quantitative data from the turtles we encounter, as well as from their tracks and nests. This year we have also begun taking a more active approach protecting as many nests as possible from both natural and unnatural predators. Metal mesh nets are used to cover each nest we find on Piro...

Community Outreach, Sea Turtles / 17.09.2010

On Sunday September 12 we celebrated the Second Annual Osa Peninsula Sea Turtle Festival on Carate Beach. The objectives of this annual event are to raise community awareness about the importance of joint actions in the conservation of the sea turtle species that frequent the beaches of the Osa Peninsula in the months of nesting, and to share the objectives and results of Friends of the Osa’s Sea Turtle Conservation Program with the community. [caption id="attachment_1360" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Children made sea turtle sand sculptures"][/caption] This year at least 120 people from...

Community Outreach, Science and Research, Sea Turtles / 15.09.2010

By Phoebe Edge, Research Field Assistant of the Sea Turtle Conservation Program We are officially half way through this year´s turtle season and it has been a very busy 3 months indeed! Within this time, we have been continuously patrolling our beaches morning and night to help our favorite reptiles. There seems to never be a dull moment, even the walks to the beach prove exciting! Already, we´ve been fortunate enough to have encountered jaguarundi, coati, caiman, anteaters, armadillos, as well as a variety of beautiful and rare frogs...

Uncategorized / 04.09.2010

El mes pasado compartí con ustedes los datos totales para nidos in situ, nidos depredados  y salidas falsas para el mes de Julio, y mencioné que estos datos eran sin ajustar por el esfuerzo de muestreo. Por esfuerzo de muestreo me refiero a la cantidad de tiempo y/o distancia que se ha invertido en cada playa para obtener los datos.  Por ejemplo, en Piro nosotros monitoreamos 2 km de playa y en Pejeperro, monitoreamos 4.5 km. No es lo mismo recorrer Piro una vez y encontrar 2 tortugas,...

Sea Turtles / 19.08.2010

This year we started our Sea Turtle Conservation Program with a great challenge, to expand our project to the beaches of Rio Oro and Carate on the southern side of the Osa Peninsula. With an excellent group of Field Coordinators (Geri Cubero, Erick Gomez and Greivin Barroso) and Research Field Assistants (Phoebe Edge, Heidi Montez, Courtney Thomas and Carlos Garcia), under the direction of Manuel Sanchez and Guido Saborio, we have taken the challenge with great enthusiasm. We also have help from Frontier, a volunteer program based in England with whom...