Turning Turtles in Tortuguero

Turning Turtles in Tortuguero tells the story of Archie Carr and Larry Ogren, and the sea turtle research and tagging station established by Carr in 1955. It also tells the story of survival of a tiny Caribbean village where harvesting turtles was a way of life. Change was inevitable in Tortuguero, Costa Rica long before Dr. Carr arrived in the village asking questions about the turtles that crawled onto the beach to nest. For generations the annual nesting had provided a primary...
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Turning Turtles in Tortuguero tells the story of Archie Carr and Larry Ogren, and the sea turtle research and tagging station established by Carr in 1955. It also tells the story of survival of a tiny Caribbean village where harvesting turtles was a way of life. Change was inevitable in Tortuguero, Costa Rica long before Dr. Carr arrived in the village asking questions about the turtles that crawled onto the beach to nest. For generations the annual nesting had provided a primary source of protein for the village, but in the twentieth century the turtles became a commodity to be sold around the world. Soon the turtle population was no longer sustainable. Their numbers steadily declined. Conservation biology was born here, as Larry Ogren and Carr's later graduate students struggled to uncover the mysteries of sea turtle life. There were no roads leading to Tortuguero and life was primitive in the isolated village. Stories from the time are often amusing, but their importance to sea turtle conservation and the developing discipline of conservation biology cannot be overstated. As trust and friendship grew between the villagers and biologists the villagers learned that they could live better by not eating the turtles. And the little community evolved into a popular ecotourism destination.