Fiesta Tortuga in Limón, Costa Rica
by Rachel Silverman

Saturday August 28, 2004, wasn’t just another beautiful sunny day in Playa Bonita, it was the Sea Turtle Liberation Festival organized by Maria Teresa Koberg from SINAC/Minae. Over two thousand people were out in force to support the continued protection of many sea turtle nesting beaches. Sea turtle protection has a long history in Costa Rica, starting in Tortuguero with Archie Carr and the Caribbean Conservation Corporation; beaches from north to south and east to west are now patrolled and guarded against illegal poaching of both turtles and their eggs.

Organizations from the Caribbean and Pacific joined forces on Saturday to spread the word. The location of the festival was important also, Maria Teresa Koberg states, “if you look around here [Playa Bonita] you will see egg shells and people selling turtle eggs, meat and Hawksbill shell jewelry”, if we can start to influence the people here not to purchase these products we could make a gigantic leap forward toward better sea turtle protection.

Many different organizations participated including: SITMAR, PRETOMA, ANAI, MINAE, Guardacostas of Costa Rica, CCC, Scouts of Costa Rica, local merchants, and many more. Booths were set up with information and interactive activities for kids and their parents. Everybody just wanted to spread the word that turtles and their ecosystems are worth a lot more alive than dead. To cap off the activities leatherback hatchlings from Gandoca in the southern Caribbean were released as well as a rehabbed Hawksbill juvenile. And a reggae band helped to conclude the day with rendering of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”. All in all is was a great day for sea turtles and a beginning of cooperation for the sake of education and protection on the part of turtlers and the local community of Costa Rica.