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| Olive
Ridley |
Lepidochelys olivacea
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|
Tortuga Lora |
This is one of the smallest turtles,
measuring 60 to 75 cm long and
weighing
35 to 40 Kg. Their shells are drab olive
green and they are known to
nest
in solitary fashion on more than forty
beaches on the Pacific coast of
Costa
Rica between the months of June and
December.
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| Nesting
& Food |
The Olive Ridley is the only species of
turtle that exhibits the
synchronized mass nesting
phenomenon known as "Arribadas". These
arribadas occur at Nancite in
the
rainy season from May to December and in
Ostional all year round.
Their main food source is shrimp, crustacea
and other invertebrates
such as squid.
|
| Education |
Literature
&
eBooks
Children's Classic Literature by Twain,
Bronte, Fitzgerald, Hawthorne,
Thoreau and more.
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| |
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Costa Rica's Olive Ridley Turtles
PLAYA OSTIONAL. This beach, made famous by
Dr.
Douglas Robinson, is located
at the village of Ostional north of Punta Guiones
close to Playa
Nosara.
Access is via Nicoya to Nosara and from Santa Cruz.
The final stretches
are
advisably accessible via four-wheel drive vehicles
in the rainy season.
This is the most important Arribada beach in the
world and is the
location
of the only legal turtle egg harvest. Due to the
fact that such a large
proportion
of the eggs are lost to natural causes, Ostional's
local development
association
(ADIO) controls the legal harvest and sale of about
1,000,000 eggs a
month.
The beach area and marine waters are protected by
the Ostional National
Wildlife Refuge,
and the project is overseen by strict scientific
control to assure that
no damage
is being done to the turtle population.
It is generally accepted that this is one of the
truly sustainable
yield
projects in the world, benefiting both man and
turtle. §
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| Ostional
National Wildlife Refuge |
PLAYA
NANCITE. This 1km long beach is located in
Santa Rosa National
Park. Olive
Ridley and other turtles that nest here are totally
protected. After
Ostional
this is the second most important nesting beach in
the world.
The occurence of the arribada is directly related to
the lunar cycle,
normally
starting with the last quarter of the moon but may
occur with the first
quarter.
It is impossible to predict the exact time or
possibility of an
arribada
but the best months are between May and December.
Access to Nancite is
through
the park via Playa Naranjo and is possible only on
foot. §
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