At Parque Hawaii, the most important work is done at night. As soon as the sun begins to set, the baby turtles in the hatchery begin to crawl out of their nests after 45-50 days of development. Volunteers count the turtles from each nest and take a random sample of 10 hatchlings to measure the shell length, shell width, length from tail to beak, and weight. The babies are on average 7cm long, 4cm wide, and they weigh around 15oz. They flap their flippers confusedly while I hold them between my fingers measuring them. They are adorable, as baby animals characteristically are. After the data is entered, the tortugitas are taken to the beach to be released. This is when I start to feel like a stressed out babysitter because all the turtles' lives, sometimes as many as 150, are in my hands. The turtles become disoriented by light and they blend into the the black sand so my job is to blindly herd them to the waves. It usually takes about 20 minutes until the last turtle finds his or her way to the water.
Baby "liberados" happen all night between patrol shifts. While on patrol, I try to find my "own" turtle to collect eggs to re-plant in the hatchery. Competition to find turtles is tough since seasoned parlameros far outnumber the volunteers and Parque Hawaii staff on the beach. Oftentimes when a turtle is spotted, the individual who finds it will sprint to claim it even if that means going waist deep into to ocean. For a few weeks before my arrival, none of the volunteers found turtles of their own so the Parque Hawaii staff decided to have volunteers start patrolling with experienced parlameros as a way to educate the volunteers and simultaneously involve and support community members who value sea turtle conservation.
This new patrol tactic matches me with Edgar, a 55 year old local man who has been a parlamero since he was 10 years old. At first, I am a bit nervous about being paired with a stranger to roam the beach with for 3 hours in the middle of the night but within minutes of patrolling I realize I have nothing to worry about. Edgar is eager to share his knowledge with anyone interested so he is easy to chat with. Edgar can predict the arrival of a nesting turtle by using nearly all his senses. With his well trained eyes, Edgar can spot a turtle in the surf as far as 50 meters away. Although one may presume that visual cues are the most reliable, the most knowledgable parlameros rely equally on their other senses to encounter turtles. Edgar advises me that when walking on the beach, the smell of fish or a pocket of warm air coming from the water are sure signs that a parlama or 2 are about to nest. Turtles often ride the currents to shore, which explains the change in air temperature and smell. Another factor that parlameros believe to attract turtles is stormy weather and wind. Thunder and lightening attracts parlamas and thus parlameros to the beach, making the most meteorologically dramatic nights the most competitive to find turtles.
This particular night of patrol is overcast with thunder and lightening in the distance. We use no lights while patrolling because it easier to see turtles once your eyes adjust in the dark. I enjoy patrolling in the dark because it emphasizes the lightening bolts that illuminate the beach and the phosphorescent algae that sparkle beneath my toes. I tell Edgar how badly I want to find a turtle and he assures me, "No te precupa, encontraramos una parlama. Cada noche encuentro parlamas." Sure enough, after an hour of patrol we walk right into a turtle track. I run up the beach to claim it, and watch as the meter long, half meter wide Olive Ridley rhythmically digs a nest using only her hind flippers. Left, right, left, right, left, she scoops sand until the nest is approximately 30cm deep with a bowl shape at the bottom. If she knows, she doesn't seem phased that I sit watching. As soon as she begins laying eggs she definitely doesn't notice me dig a tunnel through the sand into the bowl of her nest to collect the eggs. Sea turtle species enter a trance while laying their eggs which makes them particularly vulnerable to poachers, though on the bright side it makes my job of gathering eggs easy. The eggs come out of her tail 2 at a time. Olive Ridley eggs are the size of golf balls and have soft, leathery shells that will dent in but not break when you hold them between your fingers. After the parlama has finished with the clutch, she excretes from her tail onto the eggs a slimy substance that has anti-fungal and anti- bacterial properties. I count 99 eggs from her nest to re-plant in the hatchery in the park. The parlama does not rest until after her work is done but her heavy breathing proves that she is tired. Flabbergasted, having just observed the reproductive strategy of a R-selected reptile, I watch her return to the waves . How neat is that?!
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| The Olive Ridley female returning to the water after nesting. |
I am learning more than I expected about wildlife conservation and how communities are effected by it. When I arrived at Parque Hawaii, I imagined there to be an "us vs. them" mentality towards the parlameros. Rather, the conservation workers and volunteers work hard to educate and include the surrounding communities of Hawaii, Cebollito, Mañanitas, Rosario, and Dormido in the sea turtle conservation effort. The park buys eggs at market price from parlameros and offers a program called "Víveres" to further incentivize selling eggs to the hatchery. Víveres allows the parlameros to be paid in staple foods for their eggs. The great thing is that when the parlameros choose Víveres, they get twice as much food than they would be able to buy in a store for their money's worth. The locals appreciate Parque Hawaii's intention to preserve the coastal region of Guatemala's culture of collecting Olive Ridley eggs and in return, many parlameros do what they can to support the park by selling and donating eggs. Now I realize parlameros are not bad guys, they're just people trying to support their families in the only way they know. When I see a parlamero with a turtle on the beach I always go up to chat a little bit and ask if they'll sell their eggs to the park. They're always friendly, cooperative, an patient with my Spanish.
I am very excited for the coming days because I'll be going kayaking in the mangroves with Jean, the volunteer coordinator, who knows a lot about the local ecology and I also will visit Guatemala City to celebrate my friend Lucia's birthday with her family!
Thanks for reading and have a terrific weekend!
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