What attracted you to this field position?

Growing up I worked a number of jobs with kids, and after graduation, I easily stepped into a role as a Marine Science Instructor. I learned a lot at that job and loved the adventure involved, but I wanted to give research a try. This is my first hands on field position and with the techniques I’ve learned and the opportunity to travel, it’s been a real blast!

Describe your typical day on the job.

Our days start around 10:30 as we all roll out of bed after a nightly patrol. After breakfast at Kike’s, our daily schedule depends on the previous night’s work and the rotating hatchery check and temps walks. Some days we have excavations, where we dig up hatched nests and collect emergence data, other days we have triangulations on in-situ nests. On our quiet days, we take two different approaches – we either hole up in the Station and avoid the sun at all costs, or we spend as much time outside as possible, snorkeling, playing soccer, or just walking the beach.

What is the best part of your job?

There’s not a lot about this job that I don’t like so I’m hard pressed to answer what my favorite part is. I really enjoy the nightly patrols when its a quiet beach and you can sit and enjoy the moon over the water. Bonding with the team over pool games at Kike’s and finding ways to entertain ourselves has been a blast. I’d have to say the field team has made this an amazing experience so far.

How has your experience inspired you?

The people I’ve met down here have all inspired me in different ways. It’s a well rounded team of nerdy and athletic and all around fun! It’s been different for me to be surrounded by so many aspiring scientists as opposed to educators. I think this position has really opened up my eyes for what’s next for me.

What has been the funniest moment thus far?

Honestly, with this team, there are too many to count. Each individual has their personal quirks and they’ve added up to lots and lots of laughter.

Describe Costa Rica in three words.

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful… Costa Rica

What attracted you to this field position?

Sea turtles and field biology! I came to Playa Grande in 2015 as an Earthwatch employee and saw first hand the plight of the rare Eastern Pacific leatherback, olive ridley and green sea turtles. I have always been interested in working with sea turtles and knew that the people at The Leatherback Trust would be amazing to learn about this work from. I am also interested in marine policy and conservation and working within Las Baulas National Park has been a really cool learning experience.

Describe your typical day on the job.

The beauty of this position is that every day is totally different. Whether we are woken up to run down the beach and scope out a nesting sea turtle early in the morning, or sleeping in until 11 to go to Kike’s after a late night on the beach, days are never mundane. There is always at least an hour or two of day work that needs to be completed, and then there are days that are full of unpredictable turtle adventures. But, we also have our share of days that we can enjoy a long game of soccer on the beach and a refreshing swim after. Each day wraps up at Kike’s for dinner and then we come alive at night for patrols! 

What is the best part of your job?

My absolute favorite part of this position is the excitement of walking up a turtle track and not knowing exactly what I’ll find the turtle doing. It is really special to be able to see an amazing animal doing something that very few people get to see. The team that we have this year is also really amazing. We are all from very different places and have a lot to learn from each other. We are able to be serious and silly and really compliment each other. I’ve loved learning about the world through each of them. Living on the beach isn’t too shabby either!

How has your experience inspired you?

This position has inspired me in a million ways. I know that I want to continue working to protect and learn more about sea turtles. Ocean conservation is more important than ever to me now.

What has been the funniest moment thus far?

I’ll never forget being totally covered in flying sand the first night that our team worked a leatherback. We had finished getting measurements and the turtle began covering her nest. I didn’t get out of the way in time and her flippers threw sand that covered me head to toe. I had sand in my eyebrows, ears and down into my shoes – I only had to learn that lesson once!

Describe Costa Rica in three words.

Pura Vida y bonita!

What attracted you to this field position?

I am biologist at heart, I’ve always wanted to learn more about the world in which we live. Wanting to broaden my scientific knowledge, I joined the long-term monitoring project in Costa Rica. I have always wanted to work with large reptiles, sea turtles especially. In the past, I have worked with salamanders in streams and high-altitude ponds. This new opportunity with The Leatherback Trust has allowed me to learn more about a different ecosystem and species. There is no better way to learn about conservation biology, than doing it everyday in the field.

Describe your typical day on the job.

There is nothing typical about a field biologist’s day. I wake up in the late morning, after eating breakfast we knock out some beach work or take volunteers to activities. Beach work includes locating nests with a triangulation, recording temperatures, checking the hatchery for baby turtles and talking with locals and tourists as public outreach.

Next, a quick recovery in the AC from the hot beach before we head to dinner, the night is where the majority of the fun occurs. I spend 6+ hours on the beach at night walking and looking for turtles. When we come across a turtle nesting we spring into action and record crucial data. Count eggs, mark location, take length and width of the turtle while explaining information to visiting tourist and volunteers. After the night patrol we head back to the station in the early hours of the morning. I like to sum up the work to “Eat, Sleep, Walk” I wouldn’t change anything about it. I absolutely love this work.

What is the best part of your job?

Getting to work with these ancient giants is by far the best part of my job. Knowing that these turtles have been on earth longer than I have is really eye-opening. I enjoy every moment of work, no matter how tiring or hot it can be. I love the fact I get to work with students and volunteers educating them about science, getting people some hands on experience can be really impactful. I believe conservation needs the public and local peoples’ in order to be successful.

How has your experience inspired you?

This experience has encouraged me to further pursue turtle research. It is my goal to study sea turtles for my Masters degree and into my future. Never having lived by the ocean, I have found a new love for the marine ecosystems. Being surrounded by a wonderful team and working with incredible animals has given me a new perspective. Everyday I am on the beach I also see the impacts of humans on our planet. The amount of plastic and trash that gets washed up is astonishing. I will forever be changed to consciously think about the things I use in everyday life and where they may end up. It is never too late to change daily habits to help the environment, we only have one Earth so we better make it count.

What has been the funniest moment thus far?

It is difficult picking one moment that is the funniest. It’s a draw between the impromptu dance parties, riding out the hurricane, learning how to make a fart noise while laying flat on the ground, and the occasional crossing dressing fashion show. In the end we always manage to have fun in between the important conservation work.

Describe Costa Rica in three words.

Fun, diverse, and conservation!

What attracted you to this field position?

Living on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And working with a great organization to help the conservation of the leatherback sea turtle.

Describe your typical day on the job.

My day always starts with some Costa Rican coffee. Then off to the hatchery to see if any baby turtles have decided to make their way out of the sand, and start their new life in the open ocean. After that it’s off for a much needed breakfast at Kike’s where we always receive a warm welcome. Finally, we hit the beach for our night patrols in search of the always-impressive leatherback.

What is the best part of your job?

It has got to be working with the turtles!! Whether it’s a leatherback at night or a cheeky daytime olive ridley it is always an amazing experience.

How has your experience inspired you?

My time spent with The Leatherback Trust has inspired me to get more involved in marine conservation and I am currently looking at doing a master’s in marine biology.

What has been the funniest moment thus far?

The funniest moment so far happened pretty early on in the season. It started out as a pretty slow night on the beach, no turtles and plenty of mosquitos. Dana and I were taking break and checking out the stars. When something hit my foot, we both looked down and to our surprise a little Ridley had come up to nest exactly where we were sitting.

Describe Costa Rica in three words.

Beautiful, friendly, laid back

What attracted you to this field position?

In Mexico, I had been working with sea turtles, so I thought that it would be a great opportunity and experience to learn more about these amazing animals, to know about other techniques of working with them and understand conservation on an international perspective and particular, the role that Latinoamérica plays on sea turtle conservation and how it can be improved.

Describe your typical day on the job.

The first thing after waking up it is to go to Kike´s Place for breakfast at 11:00, then come back to the station at 12:30, more or less. Between 12:30-14:00  we have a moment to work on the computer, take a nap or just chill. If we have Earthwatch volunteers we use this time to do different activities with them.

At the beginning of the season each one of us had different assigned jobs. In my case I have to do triangulations, meaning if on night patrol we had a turtle nest, I have to mark the exact position of the nest on the beach, measuring and writing the distance between the nest and the north and south markers, vegetation and high tide. I have to do this every day after we had a turtle, between 14:00-15:00hrs. After this, we sometimes play soccer on the beach and swim in the ocean. At 18:00 we go back for dinner at Kike´s Place. They have really good food and different options for us. Once done, we come back to the station for the night patrol, with start time for patrol depending on the tide. Usually we walk 6hrs, 3hrs before and 3 hrs after high tide. We switch schedules every night for patrol so we walk with different people  and patrol a different beach. Also, in the middle of the season we started to check the hatchery, to keep the nests safe from raccoons, so we added the hatchery patrols to the schedules.

What is the best part of your job?

I think for me there are two big parts, one, obviously it is the turtles, that unique and magic moment that you have with them, just you, the beach and the turtle it is an incredible experience. After almost 6 months of work with them, you really know them. It is amazing you can follow and learn more about their lifecycle. The other thing is the people, either volunteers or tourists. With a simple talk about sea turtles, conservation and the work that we do, you can see how they enjoy it and learn a lot, and that is more than enough for me. To see and try to understand the perspective of local people in this topic of conservation it is really important.

How has your experience inspired you?

Working here made me see and understand another side to the conservation, and all the factors involved to make it happen. The great importance of sea turtle conservation, is that there is still a lot of work ahead. Working with the people, the communities, and wrapping them up in this work for conservation is very important. And in Mexico we need a lot of effort on this, so there is a lot of work to do at home.

What has been the funniest moment thus far?

I can say that the stay here has been very fun, all the team it is amazing. We always try to enjoy it and make all the activities that we do together fun.

Describe Costa Rica in three words.

Friendly, nature, diversity

By Dana Neel, Field Biologist

As a Sea Turtle Biologist and volunteer with The Leatherback Trust, much of our work is at night. Data shows that leatherbacks tend to nest close to high tide. For this reason, we patrol for 3 hours on either side of high tide, and return to the station as the water recedes.  

When the rest of us go to bed, one rested biologist wakes up at 5 am to complete what we call ‘morning walk’. We walk the beach early to double check the turtle tracks from the night before and to see if they missed anything after ending patrol. As a monitoring project, it is important to know when we have turtles emerging and if we miss a turtle throughout the night. This missed emergence could be a false crawl, where the turtle did not nest, or we could find a body pit, where the turtle likely nested. It is important to have this data to monitor nesting trends in Las Baulas National Park.

Sometimes, this biologist and their adjoining volunteers are granted the gift of a “morning turtle.” A morning turtle is one that crawls up to nest in the late hours of the night and is still on the beach as the sun rises. With the natural light comes the ability to take photos, which due to park regulations and disturbance of the turtles, we cannot do during our usual nighttime working hours (6 pm to 5 am).

About once a season or so, this morning turtle is a leatherback. With a morning leatherback, we radio into the Station to rally the troops and get everyone out on the beach for this special moment.  

Many friends ask what it’s like to see and work with a sea turtle, to which I often reply: it’s like you’re dreaming. You’re working under red light, you only see parts of her at a time, you’re so focused on collecting the correct data that you often have to remind yourself to stop and enjoy the moment. When patrol ends you go to bed, wake up the following morning, and ask yourself if it all really happened. With morning turtles, it’s different. Suddenly the leatherback isn’t a flipper, or a tail, or just an egg dropping machine; when you see her in her entirety, you can truly appreciate the species, their size and details of her leathery carapace that are hidden from us during our nightly routines.

During this current season, we have been one lucky team. So far we have had not just one, but three morning leatherbacks! There is always a burst of excitement when you come across a track and realize it’s only an “up” track out of the water with no return. Due to the timing of our morning walk, this is often just before the sun comes up. The biologists and volunteers on the beach will begin collecting nesting, identification, and size data while the station becomes a flurry of energy. Everyone is sparked out of their slumber and begins running around grabbing cameras and shoes and rushing to get to the van as fast as possible.

Once everyone reaches the beach, we become less a group of biologists, and more a group of sea turtle enthusiasts and wildlife photographers. The soft early morning light and the backdrop of green vegetation, tan sand, and blue water make for beautiful shots. One such photo, taken by TLT’s Executive Director, George Shillinger, was selected as the inspiration for Costa Rica’s 2100 colones postal stamp.

Of course this scenario works great when you have a team of biologists patrolling the beaches every morning, but what happens when you, your friends, or your family find a turtle nesting on the beach? If the beach is a protected area, the first line of action would be to contact the local rangers or authority.  Many large turtle nesting areas have a monitoring project in place with phone numbers readily available online. Be sure to give the turtle plenty of space, avoid crossing in front of her head, and take a moment to really enjoy the process of nesting and the hope of new life.

Have you ever wondered what daily life is like for a sea turtle biologist? We invite you to meet our sea turtle biologists!

We are so grateful for the many sandy miles our biologists walked at all hours of the night during the 2015-2016 nesting season. Together, we’re creating a future for sea turtles. 

Learn about more opportunities to get involved.

Have you ever wondered what daily life is like for a sea turtle biologist? We invite you to meet our sea turtle biologists!

We are so grateful for the many sandy miles our biologists walked at all hours of the night during the 2015-2016 nesting season. Together, we’re creating a future for sea turtles. 

Learn about more opportunities to get involved.

Have you ever wondered what daily life is like for a sea turtle biologist? We invite you to meet our sea turtle biologists!

We are so grateful for the many sandy miles our biologists walked at all hours of the night during the 2015-2016 nesting season. Together, we’re creating a future for sea turtles. 

Learn about more opportunities to get involved.