-==- rOcio -==- :: SEA TURTLES

SEA TURTLES

28 images in this album

rOcio's Photography

All Photos are available for purchase in various sizes. Please e-mail me for requests: rocio.elliott@gmail.com

Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys Olivacea)
These photos were taken in Guatemala at a Sea-turtle hatchery on land donated by my family to the ARCAS Conservatory. Conservation efforts (mainly hatcheries) are carried out at the initiative of a disparate group of people ranging from private landowners to the military to a high school. Government involvement in turtle conservation is limited and uncoordinated. Turtle eggs are prized by local populations as a supplement to their income and diets. Competition for turtle nests is intense, and it is extremely rare that a nest escapes plunder. Turtle eggs are sold to local buyers who transport them for Ceviche (a pickled seafood cocktail) to restaurants in the nation's capitol. Sea turtle eggs have a reputation for being aphrodisiacs. The Sea Turtle Conservation Program, managed by ARCAS, in cooperation with DIGEBOS (the Guatemalan forestry agency), encourages a donation by local egg collectors of one dozen eggs per nest. The eggs are reburied in protected hatcheries. Egg collectors who donate one dozen eggs are given a receipt which gives them the right to "legally" sell the rest of the nest. According to formal Guatemalan law, sea turtles are endangered species and their eggs cannot be collected or eaten for any reason. Informally, however, the one dozen eggs "donation system" has been in place since about 1980 to ensure that at least some hatchlings are returned to the sea. Unfortunately, at best only half of the egg collectors participate. 20% of my sales from these photographs will be donated to the ARCAS Sea Turtle Conservatory in Guatemala.

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Gallery: -==- rOcio -==-

Album: PHOTOGRAPHY by rOcio

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