05 Jul Building a Sea Turtle Hatchery

Blogpost written by Marina Garrido, Sea Turtle Volunteer

As a sea turtle volunteer, I have spent the last few weeks here in the Osa constructing the turtle hatchery for the upcoming nesting season. Each year, the hatchery is moved to a new location along the beach in order to relocate nests in an area with “clean” sand which was not used in the previous nesting season.  The process is long and tough and requires many hours and many hands, but the end product is so rewarding that the work is well worth it.

We begin the project by moving barriers from the old hatchery to the site of the new one. The barriers are made of bamboo, which protects the hatchery and the nests inside from the large high tide waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Next we begin the important step of sifting the sand one meter down (about the depth of a sea turtle nest). This step is important for removing debris and obstacles from the sand where new nests will be relocated. Sifting of the sand is the longest, most labor intensive, process in the creation of a new hatchery. Once all of the sand has been sifted and placed in the new hatchery location, it is time to make the surface flat and compact again.

The next step is to fill hundreds of sacs with sand in order to reinforce the outer barrier of the hatchery fence, which provides protection of the sea turtle nests against predators. Predators of sea turtle nests include dogs,  coatis, vultures and more.

 

 

We then build the structure using newly cut recycled bamboo and cover it with nets to further protect it from predators. The final step is to section off the inside of the hatchery into a grid system which allows us to identify every nest inside. These codes from the grid system make it easier for us to track and predict when the nests will hatch.

As you can see, building and maintaining the hatchery each season is hard work. Thankfully, we have the help of volunteers and school groups that come to help move the process along. It is fun work done along a beautiful beach! Not to mention, we get fresh coconut water during our breaks!

 

 

Special thanks to Colegio Puerto Jimenez for their help in building the hatchery. To learn more about how you can get involved with our Sea Turtle Volunteer Program, please check out this link below:

https://osaconservation.org/visit-the-osa/volunteer/sea-turtle-monitoring/