Hello and welcome to the Costa Rica expedition diary. My name is Catherine Edsell and I will be your expedition leader on this brand-new Biosphere Expeditions project, helping our local partner LAST (Latin American Sea Turtles) with sea turtle conservation on the Caribbean coast.
During our time at their Pacuare field station we will be working closely with Magali Marion, LAST’s on-site biologist who will endeavour to train us in all aspects of leatherback turtle monitoring. Ida Vincent, expedition leader in training, will be assisting me throughout, and Dr. Matthias Hammer, executive director of Biosphere Expeditions, will also be joining us for the first few days, to help with getting set up.
I trust all your preparations are going well, and I look forward to meeting the first expedition team on 2 May. I will not be at Hotel Santo Tomas for the assembly, as Ida, Matthias and I will be readying the station for your arrival. You will be met by Nicki Wheeler from LAST at 09.00 in the lobby of the hotel Santo Tomas, from where you will be transferred by vehicle to Pacuare. Nicki will be there from 08.30, and it is important that you are not late as we have a busy day ahead of us, with night patrols that same evening.
Please do have another look through your dossier and familiarise yourself with all the information therein, check you have all the necessary kit, and I shall see you in just under two weeks. I will be leaving the UK in a few days time to get everything organised, and will send you another update nearer the time.
Until then!
Catherine Edsell
Expedition Leader
Update from our conservation holiday protecting leatherback and other sea turtles on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica
Biosphere Expeditions: blogs from the frontline of wildlife conservation and the fight for a more sustainable planet 