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.