Get Involved

Help save leatherbacks and other sea turtles by visiting Las Baulas National Park or volunteering at Playa Grande or Playa Cabuyal. Sponsor a nest of sea turtle eggs, shop at our online store, or make a donation to show your support today.

Las Balaus National Park

Las Baulas National Park protects a diversity of habitats, including tropical dry forest and mangroves. The park is home to 153 species of birds, including the endangered roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) and yellow fronted parrot (Amazona ochrocephala), as well as 32 species of amphibians and 12 reptiles, such as the black spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura similis) and American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). There are also 34 species of mammals, including 10 species of bats. Northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana), mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliate), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) are common, in the more densely forested regions.

Park Rules

No pets
No flash photography
No fishing
No fires
No camping
No motor vehicles
No littering
Do not take shells, flora, fauna or turtle eggs
Respect the turtles
Stay below the high tide line
Only visit with a guide at night
Turn off all lights
Leave no trace

If you see a turtle...

Keep at least 10 meters away
Remain silent or speak softly
Stay out of the turtle’s field of vision

Data

Scientists and volunteers working with The Leatherback Trust collect data on nesting turtles that allows us to estimate population size. This data shows that East Pacific leatherback populations are critically endangered. We collaborate with park guards and communities around Las Baulas National Park to protect leatherbacks from 5 key threats: development, fishing, nest disturbance, pollution and climate change.

Comparing Turtles and People

When visitors see a leatherback turtle at Las Baulas National Park for the first time, many gasp at their size. Although females are typically smaller than males, nesting females often measure up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length!

Turtles from left: Leatherback, East Pacific Green, Olive Ridley

Las Baulas National Marine Park protects, among many other natural and cultural resources, the most important leatherback sea turtle nesting beaches in the entire Pacific Ocean. It is our duty to ensure this legacy by protecting this national park, which belongs to current and future generations.

If you’re an early career scientist interested in joining our field team at Playa Grande, click the button below for more details.

Mario Boza

Founder of Costa Rica’s National Parks and Board Member of The Leatherback Trust

Volunteers play an important role in sea turtle conservation through TLT’s research program.

Our collaboration with Earthwatch enables volunteers to participate in conservation activities at Playa Grande in Las Baulas National Park.

Volunteers join our research team at the Goldring-Gund Station and patrol the beach during leatherback nesting season from October to March, collecting data on nesting turtles and monitoring nests. We also invite volunteers to engage in community outreach activities and explore the park’s estuaries, home to crocodiles and monkeys.

Scientists and volunteers excavate nests after hatching to calculate nesting success rates.

Scientists occasionally find live hatchlings during nest excavations.

As biologists we quantify the world around us to better understand it, as conservationists we document the species we aim to protect, and as lovers of nature we describe the beautiful things we see each day.

Bibi Santidrián Tomillo

TLT Science Director and Principal Investigator at Playa Cabuyal

Playa Cabuyal is a little-known but important nesting beach for East Pacific green, olive ridley and leatherback turtles on the north coast of Guanacaste province in Costa Rica.

Dr. Bibi Santidrián Tomillo and Dr. Gabriela Blanco began this project in 2011 to uncover the secrets of these nesting turtles. Our researchers investigate a range of questions, including: how many turtles nest on Playa Cabuyal each year, what are the threats faced by these turtles both on nesting beaches and in offshore foraging areas, and what factors influence hatching success for incubating sea turtle hatchlings?

Our team catalogs wildlife signs (e.g., jaguar tracks) and sightings to help guide future conservation priorities and management plans.

Playa Cabuyal supports a diverse array of life across marine and coastal ecosystems. The south end of the beach opens onto the mouth of a pristine estuary. In the adjacent mangrove forest, our researchers are documenting an astounding array of flora and fauna, including crocodiles, monkeys and jaguars.

Sea Turtle Training Camp

We invite early-career conservationists join our scientific team at Playa Cabuyal to gain valuable hands-on experience collecting data on nesting sea turtles and hatchlings.

Sea Turtle Biology Training Camp runs from September 15 to March 31. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and are requested to commit a minimum of 15 consecutive days at Playa Cabuyal (1-2 month commitments are preferred).

The participation fee is $8/day for Costa Rican biologists and $16/day for international biologists to cover camp food and accommodations. Additional costs such as airfare, visas, bus transportation to/from Guardia and personal supplies or snacks are not covered.

To apply, please review the Sea Turtle Biology Training Camp booklet and follow the application instructions in the booklet.

Participants will be required to submit a copy of their passport and proof of international travel insurance, including medical and emergency evacuation coverage, to secure necessary research permits.

Green and olive ridley turtles commonly nest at Playa Cabuyal, although the beach also provides important secondary nesting habitat for leatherbacks and, on rare occasions, hawksbills.

Sea Turtle Biology Training Camp applicants are advised to consider the local conditions and expectations involved. Our rustic camp has no hot water, no cellphone coverage, and no internet service.

All participants are expected to contribute an equal share in fieldwork, cooking, and cleaning activities.

Additional studies conducted at Playa Cabuyal include documenting the nesting ecology of East Pacific green turtles, tracking turtles between nesting events using satellite telemetry and investigating the impacts of climate change on hatchlings.

Apart from studying turtles, researchers at Playa Cabuyal also catalog wildlife (including monkeys, jaguars, crocodiles, birds, spiders and insects) and monitor threats to local biodiversity.

Researchers use telemetry to identify foraging habitats for East Pacific green turtles.

Read Now!

Kids Can Help

The leatherback is the largest turtle in the world. The biggest leatherback ever recorded was over 8 feet (2.5 meters) long and weighed over 2,000 pounds (916 kilograms), which is nearly as heavy as a small car! The leatherback turtle is the deepest diving reptile and can dive down to over 3,000 feet (1,000 meters). They mainly eat jellyfish and travel long distances from their nesting beach to reach the feeding grounds. Unlike other sea turtles, the leatherback does not have a hard shell.

Help leatherbacks and other sea turtles:

Reduce, re-use, recycle. Plastic and other trash can hurt turtles because they think it is food. Try to reduce the amount of plastic you use, re-use shopping bags and recycle any waste.
Skip the straw! Try not to use plastic straws or utensils because sea animals can get injured by choking on them.
Clean up your beach. Pick up any trash on the beach.
Avoid releasing balloons into the air. Once deflated, they can end up in the ocean. Turtles can get hurt eating balloons or become tangled in the strings.
Turn out lights and close curtains near the beach. Lights can confuse nesting turtles and hatchlings.
Tell your friends what you have learned about turtles and how to protect them.

Protect leatherbacks, seabirds and marine mammals by sticking to sustainable seafood.

Next time you and your friends or family go out for sushi, avoid tuna caught on longlines or shrimp captured by bottom trawling. Instead, opt for “pole and line” caught tuna, shrimp from vessels using “turtle excluder devices”, or fish or seafood from well-managed fisheries occupying lower trophic levels on the food web. If your server is unable to tell you how your fish was caught or uses vague terms like “line-caught” to describe items on the menu, you may want to reconsider your selections. Educate your friends and family, as well as the restaurants and supermarkets in your area!

Shop for the Turtles

Overview
Las Baulas National Park
Playa Cabuyal
Grande Turtle Adventure
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Get Involved

Goldring-Gund Marine Biology Station

The Goldring-Gund Marine Biology Station is located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in Las Baulas National Park. The station serves as headquarters for TLT’s research on East Pacific turtle populations.

With space to accommodate up to 24 researchers at a time, Goldring-Gund Station provides an important hub for Costa Rican and international scientists. The Station also hosts students from middle and secondary schools in the United States and Costa Rica in field-based learning programs. Earthwatch volunteers based at the station contribute to TLT’s nesting beach research and monitoring efforts.

Goldring-Gund Marine Biology Station researchers provide nesting turtles with identification tags to measure their reproductive output and determine population size. TLT scientists have tracked the reproductive output of leatherback, olive ridley and black turtles nesting at Playa Grande since 1993. We monitor nests to understand how sea turtle eggs develop and what factors lead to the highest output of healthy hatchlings.

Learning more about where turtles go at different life stages, is essential to conserving endangered species, such as leatherbacks. Identifying seasonal and spatial patterns also enables conservationists to advance protections, such as fisheries closures along migration corridors during particular months of the year.

We know that climate change presents a looming threat to sea turtles. TLT scientists have noted that higher beach temperatures are resulting in more female hatchlings than males. Applied research enables scientists to experiment with methods to mitigate the effects of climate change. Our researchers and volunteers in Costa Rica are examining how climate change affects sea turtle nesting success and investigating whether cooling nests with shade or water during periods of excessive heat can help balance hatchling sex ratios.

TLT researchers also study the physiology and behavior of sea turtles by conducting metabolic, respiratory, hormonal and genetic tests. One of TLT’s founding scientists, Dr. Frank Paladino, discovered that leatherbacks use their large size to stay warm in colder waters and avoid overheating in tropical climates.

TLT believes strong science informs sound management. We provide our research findings to government leaders and national park officials to help inform conservation policy and management decisions. Once informed conservation strategies are implemented, we monitor their progress.

Photo: TLT scientists study the “lost years”, a 10-15 year period after hatching before turtles return to nest.

Books

The Leatherback Trust’s approach to conservation grounded in scientific research is demonstrated in a vast array of books, journal articles, scholarly texts and management reports.

Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation

Spotila, J. R. 2004. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior and Conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 228pp.

Saving Sea Turtles: Extraordinary Stories from the Battle against Extinction

Spotila, J. R. 2004. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior and Conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 228pp.

The Leatherback Turtle

Spotila, J.R. and Santidrián Tomillo, P. (eds) 2015. Biology and Conservation of Leatherback Turtles. 2015. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 228pp.

2024

Matthew L. Rutledge, Frank V. Paladino, James R. Spotila, Pilar Santidrián Tomillo

Received: 14 November 2023 / Accepted: 19 February 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024

Wenlei Bi, Songrui Liu2, Michael P. O’Connor, Jacob R. Owens, Marc T. Valitutto, Rong Hou, Dunwu Qi2, Lee-Ann Collins Hayek5, Fanqi Wu, Rui Ma2, Jiabin Liu, Yanshan Zhou, Long Zhang, Ramana Callan, Li Luo, Wenjun Huang, Zhihe Zhang and James R. Spotila

2023

Robinson, N.J., Aguzzi, J., Arias, S., Gatto, C., Mills, S.K., Monte, A., Andrews, L.S., Yaney-Keller, A. and Tomillo, P.S., 2023. Global trends in sea turtle research and conservation: Using symposium abstracts to assess past biases and future opportunities. Global Ecology and Conservation, 47, p.e02587.

Clyde-Brockway, C.E., Heidemeyer, M., Giry, M., Paladino, F.V., Mora, R., Mora, M., Mora, R., and Flaherty, E.A. 2023. A male East-Pacific green turtle that associates with small fishing boats and eats fish. Marine Turtle Newsletter 166: 10–13.

Fuentes, M.M., McMichael, E., Kot, C.Y., Silver-Gorges, I., Wallace, B.P., Godley, B.J., Brooks, A.M., Ceriani, S.A., Cortés-Gómez, A.A., Dawson, T.M. and Dodge, K.L., 2023. Key issues in assessing threats to sea turtles: knowledge gaps and future directions. Endangered Species Research, 52, pp.303-341.

Fuentes, M.M.P.B., Santos, A.J.B., Abreu&dash;Grobois, A., Briseño&dash;Dueñas, R., Al&dash;Khayat, J., Hamza, S., Saliba, S., Anderson, D., Rusenko, K.W., Mitchell, N.J. and Gammon, M., 2024. Adaptation of sea turtles to climate warming: Will phenological responses be sufficient to counteract changes in reproductive output?. Global Change Biology, 30(1), p.e16991.

Mills, S.K., Rotger, A., Brooks, A.M., Paladino, F.V. and Robinson, N.J., 2023. Photo identification for sea turtles: Flipper scales more accurate than head scales using APHIS. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 566, p.151923.

Tomillo, P.S., Pujol, F., Félix, G., Núñez-Reyes, V., Saba, V., Tomás, J. and Marco, A., 2023. Colonization of new nesting areas could provide climate refuge to loggerhead turtles under climate change. Biological Conservation, 284, p.110146.

2022

Clyde-Brockway, C.E., Heidemeyer, M., Paladino, F.V. and Flaherty, E.A., 2022. Diet and foraging niche flexibility in green and hawksbill turtles. Marine Biology, 169(8), p.108.

Robinson, N.J., Sanfèlix, M.M., Blanco, G.S., Clyde-Brockway, C., Hill, J.E., Paladino, F.V., Tomás, J. and Tomillo, P.S., 2022. Effect of water temperature on the duration of the internesting interval across sea turtle species. Journal of Thermal Biology, 110, p.103342.

Santidrián Tomillo, P., 2022. When population-advantageous primary sex ratios are female-biased: changing concepts to facilitate climate change management in sea turtles. Climatic Change, 175(3-4), p.15.

Veelenturf, C.A., Sinclair, E.M., Leopold, P., Paladino, F.V. and Honarvar, S., 2022. The effects of nest location and beach environment on hatching success for leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. Marine Biology, 169(5), p.56.

Yaney-Keller, A., Santidrián-Tomillo, P., Jordan, M.A., Lopez-Navas, J.F. and Paladino, F.V., 2022. Patterns of vertebrate biodiversity in a tropical dry and mangrove forest matrix. Revista de Biología Tropical, 70(1), pp.668-687.

2021

Bandimere, A., Paladino, F.V., Spotila, J.R., Panagopoulou, A., Diéguez-Uribeondo, J. and Tomillo, P.S., 2021. Effects of egg mass and local climate on morphology of East Pacific leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea hatchlings in Costa Rica. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 669, pp.191-200.

Clyde-Brockway, C.E., Ferreira, C.R., Flaherty, E.A. and Paladino, F.V., 2021. Lipid profiling suggests species specificity and minimal seasonal variation in Pacific Green and Hawksbill Turtle plasma. Plos one, 16(7), p.e0253916.

Ramírez, H., Valverde-Cantillo, V. and Tomillo, P.S., 2021. El Niño events and chlorophyll levels affect the reproductive frequency but not the seasonal reproductive output of east Pacific green turtles. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 659, pp.237-246.

Robinson, N.J., García-Párraga, D., Stacy, B.A., Blanco, G.S., Clyde-Brockway, C.E., Costidis, A., Haas, H.L., Harms, C., Patel, S.H., Stacy, N.I., Fahlman, A. 2021. A baseline model to estimate risk of gas embolism in sea turtles during routine dives. Frontiers in Physiology, section Aquatic Physiology: 1285.

St. Andrews, L.C., Hoefer, S., Boyd, L., Paladino, F.V. and Robinson, N.J., 2021. Healing of Skin Biopsies in Wild Juvenile Green Turtles, Chelonia mydas. Chelonian Conservation and Biology: Celebrating 25 Years as the World’s Turtle and Tortoise Journal, 20(2), pp.300-303.

Tomillo, P.S., Wallace, B.P., Paladino, F.V., Spotila, J.R. and Genovart, M., 2021. Short-term gain, long-term loss: How a widely-used conservation tool could further threaten sea turtles. Biological Conservation, 261, p.109260.

2020

“Enhanced, coordinated conservation efforts required to avoid extinction of critically endangered Eastern Pacific leatherback turtles.” Scientific Reports 10, no. 1 (2020): 4772.

Gatto, C.R., Robinson, N.J., Spotila, J.R., Paladino, F.V. and Santidrián Tomillo, P., 2020. Body size constrains maternal investment in a small sea turtle species. Marine Biology, 167(12), p.182.

Mettler, E.K., Clyde-Brockway, C.E., Sinclair, E.M., Paladino, F.V. and Honarvar, S., 2020. Determining critical inter-nesting, migratory, and foraging habitats for the conservation of East Atlantic green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Marine Biology, 167(8), p.106.

Ortiz-Alvarez, C., Pajuelo, M., Grados, D., Abrego, M.E., Rebeca Barragan-Rocha, A., Barrantes, M., Cotto Sánchez, A., Fonseca, L.G., Gadea Espinal, V., Mangel, J.C. and Rguez-Baron, J.M., 2020. Rapid assessments of leatherback small-scale fishery bycatch in internesting areas in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, p.813.

Ortiz-Alvarez, C.A., Pajuelo, M., Grados, D., Abrego, M.E., Barragán-Rocha, A.R., Barrantes, M., Cotto, A., Fonseca, L., Gadea Espinal, V., Mangel, J.C., Rguez-Baron, J.M., Santidrián Tomillo, P., Sarti, L., Santana-Hernández, H., Shillinger, G.L., Prado, M., Wallace, B.P., Williard, A.S., Zavala-Norzagaray, A.A. and Alfaro Shigueto, J. 2020. Rapid assessments of leatherback small-scale fishery bycatch in interesting areas in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science. In Press.

Santidrián Tomillo, P., Fonseca, L.G., Ward, M., Tankersley, N., Robinson, N.J., Orrego, C.M., Paladino, F.V. and Saba, V.S. 2020. The impacts of extreme El Niño events on sea turtle nesting populations. Climatic Change. In Press.

Santidrián Tomillo, P., Fonseca, L.G., Ward, M., Tankersley, N., Robinson, N.J., Orrego, C.M., Paladino, F.V. and Saba, V.S., 2020. The impacts of extreme El Niño events on sea turtle nesting populations. Climatic Change, 159(2), pp.163-176.

Silver-Gorges, I., Koval, J., Rodriguez-Zarate, C.J., Paladino, F.V. and Jordan, M., 2020. Large-scale connectivity, cryptic population structure, and relatedness in Eastern Pacific Olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). Ecology and Evolution, 10(16), pp.8688-8704.

Veelenturf, C.A., Sinclair, E.M., Paladino, F.V. and Honarvar, S., 2020. Predicting the impacts of sea level rise in sea turtle nesting habitat on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. Plos One, 15(7), p.e0222251.

Vindas-Picado, J., Yaney-Keller, A., St. Andrews, L., Panagopoulou, A. and Santidrián Tomillo, P., 2020. Effectiveness of shading to mitigate the impact of high temperature on sea turtle clutches considering the effect on primary sex ratios. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 25(8), pp.1509-1521.

2019

Clyde-Brockway, C., Robinson, N.J., Blanco, G.S., Morreale, S.J., Spotila, J.R., Tomillo, P.S. and Paladino, F.V., 2019. Local variation in the Internesting behavior of green turtles in the Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica. Chelonian Conservation and Biology: Celebrating 25 Years as the World’s Turtle and Tortoise Journal, 18(2), pp.217-230.

Martínez-Abraín, A., Santidrián Tomillo, P. and Veiga, J. 2019. Otter diet changes in a reservoir during a severe autumn drought. Journal of Mammalogy. In Press.

Martínez-Abraín, A., Santidrián Tomillo, P., Mouriño, J., Tenan, S. and Oro, D. 2019. Delayed predator-prey collapses: the case of black-legged kittiwakes and Iberian sardines. Marine Ecology Progress Series 631:201-207.

McKenna, L.N., Paladino, F.V., Santidrián Tomillo, P. and Robinson, N.J. 2019. Do sea turtles vocalize to synchronize hatching or nest emergence? Copeia 107:120-123.

Mettler, E., Clyde-Brockway, C.E., Honarvar, S. and Paladino, F.V., 2019. Migratory corridor linking Atlantic green turtle, Chelonia mydas, nesting site on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea to Ghanaian foraging grounds. Plos one, 14(6), p.e0213231.

Montero, N., Santidrián Tomillo, P., Saba, V., Marcovaldi, M.A.G., López-Mendilaharsu, M., Santos, A.S., and Fuentes, M.M.P.B. 2019. Effects of local climate on loggerhead hatchling production in Brazil: implications from climate change. Scientific Reports 9:8861.

Robinson, N.J., Lazo-Wasem, E.M., Butler, B.O., Lazo-Wasem, E.A., Zardus, J.D. and Pinou, T. 2019. Spatial distribution of epibionts on olive ridley sea turtles at Playa Ostional, Costa Rica. PLoS ONE 14:e0218838.

Valverde-Cantillo, V., Robinson, N.J. and Santidrián Tomillo, P. 2019. Influence of oceanographic conditions on nesting abundance, phenology and internesting periods of east Pacific green turtles. Marine Biology 166:93.

Williamson, S.A., Evans, R.G., Robinson, N.J. and Reina, R.D. 2019. Synchronised nesting aggregations are associated with enhanced capacity for extended embryonic arrest in olive ridley sea turtles. Scientific Reports 9:9783.

Yaney-Keller, A., Santidrián Tomillo, P., Marshall, J.M. and Paladino, F.V. 2019. Using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to assay mangrove estuaries on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. PloS ONE 14(6): e0217310.

2018

Cruz, L.M., Shillinger, G.L., Robinson, N.J., Santidrián Tomillo, P. and Paladino, F.V. 2018. Effect of light intensity and wavelength on the in-water orientation of olive ridley turtle hatchlings. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 505:52-56.

Farlow, J.O., Robinson, N.J., Kumagai, C.J., Paladino, F.V., Falkingham, P.L., Elsey, R.M. and Martin, A.J. 2018. Trackways of the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in Northwestern Costa Rica: Implications for Crocodylian Ichnology. Ichnos 25:30-65..

Heidemeyer, M., Delgado-Trejo, C., Hart, C.E., Clyde-Brockway, C., Fonseca, L.G., Mora, R., Mora, M., Lara, A., and Obando, R. 2018. Long-term in-water recaptures of adult Black Turtles (Chelonia mydas) provide implications for flipper tagging methods in the Eastern Pacific. Herpetological Review 49(4): 652–656..

Hill, J.E., King, C.M., Stewart, K.R., Paladino, F.V. and Dutton, P.H., 2018. Genetic differentiation of hawksbill turtle rookeries on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 17(2), pp.303-308.

Robinson, N.J. and Peters, W.S. 2018. Complexity of the prey spectrum of Agaronia propatula (Caenogastropoda: Olividae), a dominant predator in sandy beach ecosystems of Pacific Central America. Peer J 6:e4714.

Swiggs, J., Paladino, F.V., Spotila, J.R. and Santidrián Tomillo P. 2018. Depth of the drying front and temperature affect emergence of leatherback turtles. Marine Biology 165:1-10.

2017

Hill, J. E., N. J. Robinson, C. M. King, F. V. Paladino. 2017. Diving Behavior and Thermal Habitats of Gravid Hawksbill Turtles at St. Croix, USA. Marine Biology 164:17.

DOI: 10.1007/s00227-016-3050-4

Get Involved

Las Balaus National Park

Park Rules

If you see a turtle...

Data

Comparing Turtles and People

Sea Turtle Training Camp

Read Now!

Kids Can Help

Shop for the Turtles

Get Involved

Goldring-Gund Marine Biology Station

Books

Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation

Saving Sea Turtles: Extraordinary Stories from the Battle against Extinction

The Leatherback Turtle

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