Interesting encounters.

So far my blog has been more of an introduction to what I am actually doing in Cano Palma, and a little bit less about the actual culture and issues that surround turtle conservation work here. However, so far there have been a few "interesting encounters" that have gone on in the past month that I wanted to touch on.

Spoiler alert: I apologize for lack of (relevant) pictures in this blog.

The first encounter was a week or two ago when we ran into a group of Ph.D. students from the US on the beach at night, with a turtle. This was rather strange for two reasons. First, the beach here, Playa Norte, is protected and therefore, the public cannot access it between 6pm and 5am. Second, in order to be on the beach during those hours one needs a permit from MINAET (the Costa Rican Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications). After a bit of chatting it was clear that this group of Bison and Frog Ph.D. students were unaware that they did not have permits for being on the beach. However, from doing a bit of investigation ourselves, it was clear that they did not actually have permission or permits to be there.

The second encounter happened just last week when while "working" a leatherback turtle, the person in the house behind the beach where she was nesting came out with a small group to see the turtle. To be honest I can't really say how I feel about this. The beach is protected, but people seeing turtles nest is important to raise awareness about the importance of their conservation. However, after hearing stories of this particular individual feeding past volunteers turtle eggs...I don't know how to feel about the situation.

Finally, the last story I was not actually there for, but was told when the night patrol returned a couple of nights ago. While out on the beach our patrol team came across a family digging in the sand. Our team passed them at first but on the way back, when they finally approached them, the reaction was surprising. Lots of giggles, while they (pretended? - or didn't pretend) to build a sand turtle sculpture. This caused some suspicion -- were they poaching a nest? Trying to help hatchlings out of their nests? When our patrol team went out the next morning they looked for signs of a poached nest where the group had been the night before, but did not find anything. So although the family wasn't legally allowed to be out on the beach at that particular time, they weren't causing any direct harm.

What confuses me most about all of these things is where does one draw the boundary of telling people -- especially the local community -- what they can and can't do when it comes to something they have been doing for centuries.

Whether the people on the beach at night are families playing (or not?), curious locals (that occasionally poach?) and university groups (that don't have permits?) -- what are the boundaries?

To lighten it up here are some photos of some of our friends that hang out around base...please enjoy! 

Proboscis Bats that hang out under the dock. 

Howler Monkeys that like waking us up in the
mornings. 

White-faced Capuchin Monkey in
the tree outside our rooms.

Strawberry Poison Dart Frog who
hangs out by the washrooms.

Slaty-tailed Trogan outside the
kitchen.

Sarah's picture of a 
Slaty-tailed Trogan posing!

Juancho the Caiman who hangs out under
the dock.

Thanks to Sarah for taking some of these pictures with her wicked camera - check out her blog at: http://roamingfrijole.blogspot.com/.