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Marine Turtle Newsletter 74:14-15, © 1996

1995 Sea Turtle Training Course at Nancite, Costa Rica

Rodlan A. Valverde
Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-3258 USA

Sea Turtle Training Course III was held at the Nancite Biological Station, Guanacaste Conservation Area, Costa Rica, from 12-19 January 1996. A total of 14 students from six nations (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Spain) attended the course. Peter H. Dutton and Roldán A. Valverde served as course instructors. In addition, Costa Rican researchers Claudette L. Mo, Randall Arauz, Róger Banco, and Ana C. Chaves gave introductory lectures on the first day of the course.

The course was funded mainly by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with additional support coming from the Texas A&M Sea Grant College Program (in the form of a grant to Dr. David W. Owens), the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST), and Earth Island Institute. Contributions from the latter two organizations were instrumental in providing travel assistance to international students. Funds were administered by Ocean Planet Research, Inc.

The objective of the course was to educate people from the neotropics on sea turtle biology and conservation issues, particularly those individuals charged with managing, protecting and/or studying sea turtle populations. Since the course was taught at a major olive ridley rookery, field methods (e.g., blood sampling, nest relocation) were incorporated into daily instruction. In addition, academic and conservation biology issues (e.g., use of genetic techniques, reproductive biology studies) were also presented and discussed. Therefore, the scope of the course was not limited to a single population or species.

The content of the course was significantly enriched by student presentations. These presentations focussed on the students' personal involvement with sea turtle conservation initiatives in their countries of residence. Also included were presentations describing conservation efforts and use of sea turtles by local communities living near arribada beaches in Panama and Nicaragua, as well as a presentation about the leatherback conservation program at Las Baulas National Park in Costa Rica. Each presentation provided the class with valuable discussion material from which both students and instructors benefited. In the future, we hope to broaden this component of the course to include discussions of other sea turtle populations in the region.

We regret that this course is not likely to be offered during the 1996-1997 olive ridley nesting season at Nancite because of unexpected funding constraints, but please look to the Marine Turtle Newsletter for an announcement of Sea Turtle Training Course IV in 1997.

Acknowledgments: We could not have successfully planned or completed this course without the support of Dr. Richard Byles, Dr. Karen Eckert, Todd Steiner, Dr. David Owens, and Donna McDonald. Also, I am deeply indebted to Róger Blanco (his enthusiasm and dedication have always been an inspiration, and I appreciate his invitation to work with and for the A.C.G.), to M.Sc. Claudette Mo and Mrs. Argelis Guevara Ruiz for facilitating the process of student selection and many other aspects of the organization of the course, and to Claudette Mo, Ana C. Chaves and Randall Arauz for their willingness to share with the students their experiences and information. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Peter Dutton for agreeing to teach under difficult field conditions and for his support and camaraderie throughout the multiple organizational phases of the course.