SEA TURTLE!

Well, almost.

Recently, scientists made an astounding discovery.

They found an adult Tyrannosaurus the size of a man.

Millions of years later, this species evolved into a monster 100 times larger, the fearsome T. Rex.

This may be news to us but not to the marine turtle.

You see, it was already nesting on the world's beaches before the very first tiny Tyrannosaurus popped out of an egg and surprised its mother---in fact, millions of years before the first dinosaur came into existence!

Olive Ridley Turtles

The fog was sometimes so heavy the sailors could not see the reptiles but there were so many paddling creatures that the men simply followed the sound to safety.

A tall tale?

Maybe. . .except

There is still one place on earth where you can see for yourself--on your Costa Rica vacation. Click to learn about the incredible Costa Rica's arridabas of olive ridley turtles.

Sometimes, half a million olive ridleys come ashore to nest on a tiny beach.

This is Costa Rica eco tourism at its finest for folks lucky enough to experience it.

The Rare But Spectacular Leatherback

It has been on this planet longer than almost any animal in the world, swimming the oceans for millions of years before the first dinosaur.

This monster, weighing up to a half ton or more, can swim faster than Mark Phelps, deeper than our most sophisticated submarine, and traverse 13,000 miles---one way!

Today, it is critically endangered but still nests in Costa Rica as people fight for the very survival of the incredible leatherback turtle, click.

Conserving Marine Turtles at Cocos Island

He wasn't referring to the beaches fronting the ocean. It was the waters below.

Few people who travel Costa Rica are lucky enough to visit Cocos Island though Costa Ricans voted it as one of the Seven Wonders of Costa Rica, click.

Its waters are filled with life. There are so many sharks, it has been called "Shark Island" by some.

But this place, which some think was the setting for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

and

was the inspiration for Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park

is where researchers go for tagging Cocos Island turtles, click.

Tortuguero Park Sea Turtle Preserve

Over a hundred thousand people a year come to see the park's wildlife and, in particular, the largest green sea turtle nesting preserve in the Western Hemisphere.

What few people know is how close the sea turtles came to extinction but for the efforts of one man and his pen. It's the true story---and a must read---of Tortuguero Park.

Costa Rica Eco Tourism: Saving Sea Turtles

With the exception of the Australian sea turtle, every species of this marine animal is endangered.

Fortunately, Costa Rica eco tourism is helping to save marine turtles, click

Literally in the span of a few decades, man's rapaciousness has done something that all the cataclysms over more than 150 million years could not: imperil the most ancient of all surviving animals.

A few souls have set out to reverse the decline of these magnificent beings.

And, truth is, Costa Rica seems to be of two minds.

On the one hand, it has created the largest marine turtle preserve in the Western Hemisphere; on the other, its shrimp fishing industry needlessly kills uncounted numbers of these animals because the government doesn't require fishermen to employ modern extraction devices that would save lives.

The ravaging is so serious that the U.S. has placed an embargo on Costa Rica's shrimp products.

Perhaps you can help a bit on your Costa Rica vacation.

Remember: their future is yet to be written.

You can help write it.

Go to Costa Rica Animals, click

Go from Sea Turtle to Homepage here