Of palm trees, pumas, plucky hatchlings...and plastic bottles.
One of the most amazing moments of my career was a business trip to the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. This is a true slice of paradise - you fall asleep to the deep booms of howler monkeys, you wake up in the morning to parakeets chirping, there are lush incredible scene everywhere you look, everything is fresh and green and breathtaking.
Even in this slice of paradise on the tip of the peninsula, not densely populated, you still find plastic waste along the beaches. Interestingly, the locals have noticed that it gets largely brought down by currents from other parts of the country, as there aren't hardly any people physically dumping their trash (or even walking on the beach) in this location. Just goes to show how connected everything is.
In 2017, Costa Rica was the first country to commit to being entirely single-use plastic free by 2021. It will be very interesting to track their progress and see how the roll-out operates, as they may be setting a model for other countries around the world that have followed suit.
Now, one of the best moments of my LIFE was one morning when we had the chance to release sea turtle hatchlings with a local organization called Osa Conservation. There really are no words to describe what a magical experience it is to watch these little ocean sentinels take their first steps (or flaps!) towards the ocean, knowing that they will travel the world and return to that exact same beach to lay their own eggs someday. And, yes, I cried...a lot...don't judge.
As I watched them get washed away in the surf and head out to sea, I couldn't help but hope that these little guys never have to encounter plastic waste along their journey, though sadly it seems inevitable. Its been estimated that over 50% of all sea turtles across all 7 species have ingested plastic, and recent research suggests that ingesting even a few pieces of plastics could potentially be fatal to them. Entanglement in plastic-based fishing nets is another a major threat to sea turtles. It is also thought that hatchlings in particular spend a good portion of their early years circulating in ocean currents and gyres where plastic from around the world accumulates. Nearly all seven species of sea turtle are classified as Endangered - not exclusively due to plastic, but certainly all due to human activity.
If they make it to adulthood, most of those hatchlings we released will long outlive me - here's hoping that their future home isn't full of plastic waste!
Photo credit for me & hatchlings: Robin Moore
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