Honu Has Returned to Brasilon

This weekend, Honu, the turtle we've been tracking since last month returned to Brasilon beach. You can follow her on her SeaTurtle.org page.

Nicaragua's Jaguars

This fall, Paso Pacífico's team of wildlife biologists and machete-wielding rangers faced huge spiders, floods, earthquakes, and chest-deep swamps to place two dozen camera traps in remote forest areas. Their goal? To capture the elusive jaguars long thought extinct in the tropical forests of Nicaragua.

Two years ago, an intern's camera trap captured one, proving their existence and highlighting the need for their protection. Jaguars require large areas of understory to hunt their prey, making them extremely vulnerable to deforestation. Paso Pacífico's motion-triggered cameras capture carnivores and other mammals helping scientists gauge forest health to prioritize habitat restoration efforts.

Empowering Women with Sustainable Energy

“Reducing energy poverty among women is a wise investment,” said Princess Haya, of the UAE, at this week's World Energy Forum 2012.

We agree, which is why we partner with the Portable Light Project to develop solar textile lanterns made by women in rural Nicaragua, and used by women and children without electricity in their homes, extending their reading hours.

The lanterns are also used by our turtle rangers. During the daytime, the flexible photovoltaic harvests energy from sunlight. At night, the LED light can switch from white to red so rangers can walk the beaches without disturbing the sea turtles. Each bag has the ability to charge a cell phone, which allows rangers to communicate with each other, photograph nests and upload information.

60 Years of Innovation

"We teach them that the ocean is alive and we've got to take care of it."
Jack O'Neill

"The Sea Odyssey Program has given an experience of a living ocean to 50,000 kids already."

Costs & Benefits of Preserving Nature

Mother Jones:

"A global effort to prevent all future species extinctions would cost about $80 billion a year, or $11.42 annually from every person on the planet, according to a study published last week in Science."

Scientific American:

"More specifically, the study finds that lowering the extinction risk for all of the species that are currently known to be threatened would cost the first $4 billion per year. Protecting and managing key habitats would cost an additional $76.1 billion."

500,000 Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

From the Turtle Conservancy's October Newsletter:

Eric Goode along with writer Glenn O’Brien and Kortnie Coles traveled to the Pacific coast of Mexico to witness a natural phenomenon called an arribada (the Spanish word for “arrival”). During a 3 week period, over 500,000 Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) nest on a 3 km stretch of Escobilla Beach in Oaxaca. This nesting event peaks during the month of September. Only three species of turtles exhibit this behavior: Giant South American River Turtles (Podocnemis expansa), Kemp’s Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), and Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). The Escobilla Beach Olive Ridley arribada in Oaxaca is by far the largest.

Climate Change Threatens Staple Crops

From ClimateWire:

Beans and corn -- the staples of the Central American diet -- will become more difficult to grow as climate change progresses, according to a new study.

...

Certain "hot spots" that are especially vulnerable are spread throughout the region, especially in Honduras and western Nicaragua. But other spots, including many areas in eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras, will become good adaptation areas for corn and beans through the 2020s.

However, Eitzinger said, moving production to these easily adaptable areas could create a land conflict with forests and risk the loss of trees. 

Hat Tip: Our friends at Climate Action Reserve

Robot Fish Patrolling for Plastics?

Over at Treehugger, you can read about "robo-fish, which were developed to look like and swim like real fish, can autonomously seek out pollution, debris and chemicals in the water and then feed information back to shore where it can be analyzed."

Maximizando Nuestro Momentum

Eleven rules for maximizing your momentum, from Paso Pacífico board member Gian Marco Palazio:

Delisting the Honu

Our friends at the Sea Turtle Restoration Project join the opposition of the delisting of the Hawaiian green sea turtle:

Turtles Face Premature Loss of Protections and Return of Hunting

Hawaiian green sea turtle populations have increased steadily since their hunting was banned and they were given federal protections and listed as threatened under the ESA in 1978. However, the Hawaiian honu is far from reaching the official government recovery goal of at least 5,000 nesters per year. Today, the population is only at about 10 percent of that goal, with an average around 390 nesting females per year between 2000-2009 in the Hawaiian archipelago, with a high of 843 in 2011. 

Tagging a Hawksbill in Nicaragua

From our friends at Fauna and Flor International and ICAPO:

Aquí les dejó un video (7 minutos) que preparamos para documentar la experiencia de marcaje satelital de tortugas carey aquí en Nicaragua en Julio pasado.

October Newsletter Online

Jaguars, coastal clean-ups, and sloth action shots!

Check out our October newsletter to learn about jaguars and coastal clean-ups, and to read our biologists' adventures in camera trapping.

Is Climate Change Shrinking Fish?

Sunday's Guardian:

Global warming is likely to shrink the size of fish by as much as a quarter in coming decades, according to a groundbreaking new study of the world's oceans.
...
"Our work shows a very concerning future for the oceans and so it is very important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop better fish management policies to adapt to these changes," said Cheung.

All the more reason we're glad to be working to mitigate climate change and establish sustainable fisheries in Nicaragua. Thanks to our friends at Surfrider for binging the article to our attention.