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Sea Turtle Research & Conservation Short Term Internship in Costa Rica (Directory Program)

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  • Locations: Tortuguero, Costa Rica
  • Program Terms: Academic Year, Calendar Year, Fall, J-Term, Jan Term, Janterm, May Term, Semester, Spring, Summer, Summer I, Summer II, Summer III, Summer IV, Trimester, Winter
  • Homepage: Click to visit
  • Program Sponsor: GVI 
Fact Sheet:
Fact Sheet:
Click here for a definition of this term Language of Instruction: English Housing Options: Dormitory, Hostel/Hotel, Other
Click here for a definition of this term Areas of Study: Animal Science, Ecology, Internships, Marine Science, Service Internship, Service Learning, Zoology Program Type: Field Study, Internship Abroad, Study Abroad, Volunteer Abroad, Work Abroad
Click here for a definition of this term Program: Direct
Program Description:
Sea Turtle Research & Conservation Internship in Costa Rica
Work to assist assist in the conservation of critically endangered hawksbills, endangered green sea turtles, and vulnerable leatherbacks in Costa Rica's Tortuguero National Park. Develop key research skills while monitoring beaches for mother turtle tracks and nests.Run in conjunction with the Sea Turtle Conservancy and Costa Rican Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications, MINAET, this project allows participants the opportunity to observe nesting and hatching sea turtles in their natural habitat while making a contribution to their preservation, gaining valuable conservation knowledge and skills in the process.

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Program Focuses:
Every year from April to October mother turtles come to Tortuguero beach to lay their eggs. Leatherbacks and Hawksbills tend to come earlier in the season, whereas green turtles tend to arrive later. After an intensive training program, including learning about turtle biology, behaviour, and global abundance as well as research methods used on the project, you will form part of a group of participants conducting night-time patrols on the tropical beach looking for nesting mother sea turtles, their tracks and whether any sea turtles have been preyed upon by jaguars. In the event of finding a mother turtle during your patrol, you may assist the GVI Patrol Leader with measuring the turtle, counting the eggs being laid, looking for previous tags and distinctive markings and recording the data. This will help researchers with determining the number of turtles returning to the beach, and the number of new ones, how they are spread out across the nesting season, and how migrations between beaches work. During morning patrols, you will work with other participants to identify nests. Depending on the season, you may also be lucky enough to see and record the juvenile turtles emerging from the nest and record data on hatchling success, poaching rates, and mortality rates. When not conducting surveys, the rest of your time will be spent at our base, processing data and getting to know your fellow participants from all around the world. Even though turtle conservation will be a main part of your activities, you might also have the opportunity to conduct jaguars and aquatic birds research, as well as carrying out biological assessment surveys of the area, contributing to long-term conservation efforts along Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. In the process you will gain an holistic understanding of the rainforest ecosystem and master skills that will aid you in pursuing a career in conservation.

Program Highlights:
  1. The opportunity to witnessing the entire nesting process and conduct hands-on sea turtle research.
  2. Between July and October there is also the possibility of witnessing hatchling emerge from their nest to make their way to the ocean.
  3. Observe Costa Rican wildlife species in their natural habitats, including sea turtles on the Carribean beach, and monkeys, neo-tropical birds, and amphibians in the canopies above rainforest canals.
  4. Visit an incredibly jaguar-dense area and one of the only locations in the world where jaguars are known to prey on adult sea turtles.
  5. Explore the rainforest by canoe and walk the pristine Caribbean beaches.
  6. Learn biodiversity survey techniques and gain real field experience.
  7. Undertake turtle nesting surveys and monitor nesting sites during turtle nesting season.
  8. Contribute to jaguar research by setting up and checking camera traps in the rainforest.
If applying for this program to obtain credit from an institution, GVI can supply learning outcomes and support in the application. Risk assessment available upon request, please contact GVI for more details. 

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Location:
Explore one of the most exotic locations in the word, as you work on an internship in the beautiful Jalova region of Costa Rica. The stunning Tortuguero National Park, surrounded on three sides by protected rainforest and on the other by the Caribbean Sea and a beach that is home to one of the largest nesting colonies of Green Turtles in the world, is where you will find our conservation base. Our work here is focused around the long-term management and conservation of this stunning rainforest.