Poaching
Only a very small portion of the leatherback turtles that hatch
will ever have a chance to return to lay eggs. Many are eaten
on their desperate crawl to the ocean by birds or by fish in the
ocean. If they survive, they may be caught accidentally in fishing
nets at sea.
But 10 years ago, there was another major threat - a thriving
industry that harvested turtle eggs to serve in restaurants and
bars or as ingredients for commercial bakeries.
Louis Wilson has spent more than 20 years on these beaches. He
was drawn to the location because of its great waves for surfing
and later as a nature guide and now as a hotel owner.
When he arrived in Playa Grande the first time, there was no
national park. Added to this, the attitude toward collecting eggs
wasn't that it was poaching. It was considered to be harvesting
in the same way many communities fish.
Wilson and a number of Costa Ricans took up the issue - confronting
the harvesters and the government that the harvesting of these
eggs threatened the future of the leatherback turtles.
