Sea Turtle Service Learning Trip to Costa Rica Offered for College Students

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SEE Turtles and EcoTeach announce the “Costa Rica Service Learning Trip” that offers college students an opportunity to volunteer abroad with sea turtle conservation programs. Participants will work side-by-side with local researchers patrolling leatherback sea turtle nesting beaches, helping to collect important data, protect the eggs, and monitoring egg hatcheries.

Beaverton, OR, December 15, 2009 (PressReleasePoint) -- SEE Turtles and EcoTeach announce the “Costa Rica Service Learning Trip” that offers college students an opportunity to volunteer abroad with sea turtle conservation programs. This volunteer vacation will spend four nights each at two community-based sea turtle projects along Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. Participants will work side-by-side with local researchers patrolling leatherback sea turtle nesting beaches, helping to collect important data, protect the eggs, and monitoring egg hatcheries.

This unique trip will be led by award-winning young conservationist Zander Srodes. Zander, who has been fascinated by sea turtles from a very young age, is now an intern with SEE Turtles and a freshman at Santa Fe College in Florida. His tireless work with turtle conservation and education has earned him the Brower Youth Award, the Presidential Environmental Youth Award, a Volvo for Life Award, and more. "My passion for sea turtles has taken me around the world in search of important nesting beaches", says Zander. "This service learning trip will be an unforgettable experience for the college students who join."

Highlights of the Sea Turtle Service Learning Trip will be:
* Four nights working with leatherback turtles in Parismina and Gandoca;
* Whitewater rafting and ziplines through the jungle;
* Explore rainforests by foot and boat, searching for wildlife such as monkeys, sloths, caiman, and more; and
* Visit an iguana conservation project at the Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve.

While patrolling the nesting beaches, when the group finds a turtle, volunteers will help collect data and tag it. Researchers collect data such as length and width of the shell, where it nested, its tag number, and its physical condition. Patrols last 4 hours and run from 8 pm to midnight or midnight to 4 am. Other jobs include working in the hatchery, maintaining the equipment, cleaning the beach of driftwood, debris, and trash, and participating in educational programs. Participants will have the daytime free explore the rainforest, visit local towns, or get to know the other volunteers and researchers. More information on the tour can be found at: http://www.seeturtles.org/1326/costa-rica-service-....

Tour Information: Dates: May 28 – June 8 & June 10 - 22
Cost: $1,595 per person, double occupancy (includes 2 guides, transportation in-country, meals, lodging, activities, and a donation to turtle conservation, does not include airfare).

About SEE Turtles:
SEE Turtles is an Ocean Foundation conservation tourism project that links people with community-based sea turtle projects. Going beyond the ecotourism mantra of "leave only footprints", SEE Turtles suggests that tourists should make a positive impact through conservation tourism. Conservation tourism supports communities protecting sea turtles by increasing the income needed for local conservation efforts, providing economic alternatives to end threats to sea turtles and inspiring travelers to take a more active role in protecting sea turtles. More information at http://www.seeturtles.org.
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