Decoy Sea Turtle Eggs Catch Black-Market Poachers in Action
/Sea turtles are anything but lazy. It's hard work for them just to survive. For more than 100 million years, sea turtles have returned en masse to the same beaches where they were born to lay their own eggs. While this age-old method has helped sea turtles survive so long, their predictability leaves their eggs open for poachers. Only one in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings reaches adulthood, and the black market for turtle eggs is a big reason for these dire numbers.
A pair of scientists are working to understand the turtle egg black market. Veteran conservation scientist Dr. Kim Williams-Guillen, a professor at the University of Michigan, has developed 3D-printed decoy eggs implanted with GPS trackers. Conservation biologist Helen Pheasey from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom places SIM cards in the decoy eggs, then plants them in nests of real sea turtle eggs after dark. This is part of Pheasey's extensive research into understanding the sea turtle egg black market in Costa Rica, which has one of the only legal egg trades in the world.
The study's still young, and they're making sure the technology works. So far, so good. Pheasey told Vice, "It's really exciting because this is legitimately working. We've got an egg leave the beach and go to a place that's like the handover point. And then the next day, I can pinpoint the exact house that it's in.”
Sea turtle eggs are considered a delicacy in some places, especially Costa Rica. Roldán Valverde, scientific director at the Sea Turtle Conservancy explained, "They make a drink that is basically tomato sauce, lime and hot sauce. It has a few components, and they add that to the egg and they just chug it raw. The reason people do it — it’s mostly men, I would say — is because there is this notion that these eggs may be an aphrodisiac. There’s no proof of that; everything we’ve seen shows that’s not the case. But the lore is that this happens, so many still continue to consume eggs in great numbers.”
At Lazy Turtle, we are committed to helping sea turtles and are inspired by the innovative, vital work that scientists and conservationists contribute in order to protect them. When you purchase any item from our shop, ten percent goes to the Sea Turtle Conservancy.
Images via Vice.
“It's really exciting because this is legitimately working.”
— Helen Phease, Conservation Biologist
