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'Central America Journal'- COSTA Rica's conch coast

Explorer Dr. C. B. King

We started our expedition in search of native endangered species that were to be found on the Conch Coast of

Costa Rica just North of Limon, Costa Rica and to fish the fertile waters of the Costa Rican Caribbean... that

Christopher Columbus found in 1502 when he christened this coast 'Costa Rica' (Rich Coast)... we found more than

we expected in this refuge of various species... The expedition group consisted of four of us that included two of

my 'Bros' from the Midwest of the United States & a native guide supplied by an 'Expat' from U.S. that was

domiciled in Cartago C.R. (originally from the State of Florida, U.S.) I will leave the three nameless as to protect

the innocent - and will refer to them as 'Bobacuda','Stingray', & 'Senior Cornbread'.

The plane that we took from Miami, Florida to San Jose's Juan Santamaria International Airport landed us in the

early afternoon. The group decided to proceed to our destination of Limon by a bus. Bus trips take about three

hours from San Jose and you usually ride with a menagerie of individuals that are picked up as the trip continues.

The fare is around 4 dollars usd for the local bus... there is a direct bus for a few more dollars though. Limon is not

a tourist destination but rather a working port that ships mostly bananas in between the underground movement

of various drug trades... over the years the Caribbean Coast has garnered a reputation as a drug and crime infested

area. Foreigners to this area are of suspect from the locals. Our arrival received a few stares but after a while we

were feeling a little more comfortable as this was October and the Limon Carnival had just started. Reggae was

screaming from the small elaborately ornate buildings that were built by the banana profits many years ago... the

buildings have since decayed in this tropical climate... the streets were jammed with costumed locals dancing and at

times hitting each other in some kind of ritual. 'Stingray' decided that we should check in at the Hotel Acon... it

had airconditioning which is a major luxury in this area. Little did we know that the disco was on the second floor

and was blasting that Saturday night until 4 am! The restaurant was a blend of the Tico/Chinese cuisine that used

hot-hot spices to mask the lack of chicken used in most of the dishes... you can eat for around 7 dollars usd. We met

some other tourists... ladies that were from Canada that were here for the same reasons that brought us to Limon...

the gateway to the famed Tortuguero National Park and the Southern Coastal beaches. 'Bobacuda' fell in love with

the Alberta, Canada 'Snowflake' and we were not able to find him for the next two days as the Carnival continued

24 hours a day! 'Stingray' left earlier joining in the parade dance having decided that he liked the 'tailend' of a

group of local Senoritas from San Jose... 'Senor Cornbread' and I went over the next morning to setup the boat

transportation that would take us in a few days to the Tortuguero National Park... the name means "giant sea

turtles" in Spanish (tortugas) that nested on the beaches this time of year and the reason that we began our

expedition. Transportation to the park would be by boat through the rivers and canals that ran parallel to the

Caribbean Sea. These rain forest highways were lined with the lives of sloths, spider monkeys, toucans, macaws and

of course a mass of nondescript bugs!

The nesting season of the sea turtles had occurred as the moon announced the time for them to congregate by the

hundreds as we could see wall to wall on these pristine beaches! What our investigation had asked is why do these

animals continue to flourish despite findings of toxins being found in a number of sampled turtles investigated over

the last few nesting seasons by the work of our associated researchers from the Key West Institute? The turtles that

use these beaches are Green, Hawksbill, Loggerheads and Leatherbacks. The Leatherbacks are over 1,000

pounds and over 6 feet long. We arrived at the end of the season so most of what we were focused on sampling

were the Greens. The Leatherbacks nest in February to April and the Loggerheads are always rare. Our interest

were in the effects that the predator known as man has had on the species and our interest was not in there natural

habitat competition. Sharks feed on the hatchlings and come in close to shore and inland up the rivers for this

seasonal feast. 'Senor Cornbread' and I assembled our gear and guide and began up the rain forest. We left

behind us the Carnival that just was beginning to peak along with 'Stingray' and 'Bobacuda' still in the center of their

continuing festival explorations. We arrived at the small town and met with the Caribbean Conservation Corp's

Representative who showed us the museum (for more info www.cccturtle.org) and the turtle display.

On the beach at night we found a number of Green Turtle specimens and tagged them along with some other

analysis parameters... measurements and fluids for lab testing. Our field laboratory findings would distill from the

data some interesting reviews... the fluids revealed that the turtles' had exposure levels to various chemicals (Note:

the book Silent Spring was first published 45 years ago. Rachel Carson's depiction of the pervasive and unpredictable

effects of polluting our environment still stands as the most compelling argument for curbing our pesticide habits and

regulating new chemicals. In the past toxins were produced unregulated... now revealed to have affected wildlife

thousands of miles away)... the turtle samples showed they had past contacts with Mercury contaminates as well as

Arsenic, Beryllium, Benzene, Chromium, Chlorobenzene and others? We looked closely for any abnormalities / tumors

in the animals bodys and shells... only one specimen was suspect. Returning by boat to Limon we noticed runoff from

the rivers but were unable to sample the water... but our suspicions are that the registered contaminates were from

far away industrial countries as the turtles circled the globe.

Limon's Carnival in the streets had not stopped and was continuing with the same intensity... and along with 'Stingray',

'Bobacuda' and others 'Senor Cornbread' joined in for his traditional muffin (cornbread based) and a beer. The two

revelers that we left a few days earlier at the Limon Carnival had lived up to their names with the Canadian and Tico

local ladies. The turtles had left the beaches to go into the world's oceans & we sailed away from Limon a day later!

Explorer Dr. C. B. King is a freelance writer & a Nano/Bio Scientist

(Note disclaimer: article does not refer to any individuals either living or dead... any similarity is only coincidental &

article is for entertainment purposes only.)

Additional Turtle resources not mentioned in article... www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org

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Editor's note: "Clothes make the man... naked people have little or no influence on society." - Mark Twain