Our Impact

The Animal Welfare Group’s President Megan Wilson had the amazing opportunity to volunteer with Turtle Trax supporting community-based sea turtle conservation projects along the southern Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. Working alongside scientists with the Rescue Center for Endangered Marine Animals (CREMA by its Spanish acronym), volunteer activities in these sea turtle conservation programs include:

• Night beach patrols to observe sea turtle reproductive behavior and record scientific data to improve conservation strategies

• Beach cleanups to remove plastic and other foreign objects from the shore, then sorting through the findings to identify what items can be recycled or repurposed

• Constructing and maintaining hatcheries to protect nests from poaching and predation, ensure optimal incubation conditions for egg development, monitor hatchling activity, and perform nest excavations to collect data on unhatched eggs

• Releasing hatchlings onto the beach and protecting them from predators as they crawl to the ocean

In addition to covering operational costs, funds generated through these programs help provide income for the local communities. Pura Vida!