Having recently started working for Steppes Discovery got me thinking of some of the greatest Wildlife encounters I’ve had the pleasure and the privilege to experience over the years. These range from swimming with whale sharks, tracking gorillas in Rwanda, getting out of a river in the Brazilian Pantanal at the approach of giant otters, laughing at the antics of a blue-footed booby’s mating ritual in the Galapagos, going on safari in Africa or watching quarrelling penguins in Antarctica. Here is one of my fondest wildlife-related memories.
I’ve been lucky enough to live and work in one of the world’s wildlife heavyweight countries: Costa Rica. Shortly after I first arrived there I was sent to visit some of the projects run by the organisation I was working for. One of these projects was turtle conservation on the Caribbean coast. Leatherback turtles are the largest marine turtle in the world. They’re incredible creatures which can measure over 2 meters (6.4ft) and weigh close to a tonne. Their carapace is leathery and flexible allowing them to dive to depths of over 4000ft (1300m) and they can spend up to 85 minutes underwater. Like many turtles they will often return to the beach of their birth to lay their own eggs after travelling hundreds of miles around the world’s oceans. They’ve been around since the time of the dinosaurs but today are rated as critically endangered by the IUCN.
On this particular evening I arrived unannounced at the researchers’ base but was told that, sadly, I wouldn’t be able to join a patrol that day as there were already too many volunteers. No matter, I was going to be around for a while and would be able to come back some other day. After dining with some of the biologists I started to make my way up the beach back to the road leading to where I was staying. Up ahead I could see the tell-tale signs of the red-tinted torches used by the volunteers to not disturb the turtles. As I got close the lead biologist of this group called me over excitedly. There was a turtle, already entranced as she was laying her eggs. At first I was taken aback by her size, and then hypnotised by her concentration. I sat there for a while until she started covering up the nest and heading back to the ocean. I have, since, had the opportunity to see various marine turtles but none of those experiences will ever compare to this, my very first time.