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Sea Turtle Aribata / Arribada
(click on the 4th photo posted by C.P. Santos in photo of the year)
The Arribada is where thousands of sea turtles come ashore and lay eggs.
The Ostional National Wildlife Refuge is in the province of Guanacaste. The refuge is about 300 Ha. The Ostional Wildlife Refuge was create to protect marine turtle species, such as the Olive Ridley (Lora) and Leatherback (Baula) at Playa Ostional on the Nicoya Peninsula Costa Rica. Arribadas at this beach are the largest in the world, with as many as a million sea turtle eggs laid in the beach nesting areas each year.
Some days or weeks before an expected "arribada", large numbers of turtles are seen swimming close offshore. This is then the gathering of this particular group of turtles that will be taking part in the Arribada.
The best time to visit Ostional is just before and during an aribada. Arribadas usually occur at the start of the LAST Quarter MOON. The best months to see the biggest Arribadas are between July and December. A few hundred turtles come ashore followed by a steady stream of animals for the next three to seven days.
Since most of the turtles eggs laid the first 1-3 days are destroyed by other turtles making a nest, locals are allowed to harvest the eggs from the sea turles for the first 3 days. This is the only place in the world where people are allowed to harvest sea turtle eggs.
"Arribadas" occur all through the year, at least once a month and, in some months, occur twice. The months between June and December, during the rainy season, larger arribadas occur. The number of nesting turtles may be in the range of hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands for the dry season months.
Park Facilities and Hours
The ranger station at Playa Ostional is open from 8 am to 4 pm. Guided tours are available with bi-lingual park employees. Contact the ADIO (Asociacion de Desarrollo de Ostional) for more information. 506-682-0470 Costa Rica.
As marine turtles are normally shy and easily disturbed when nesting, the "arribada" is all the more exciting and strange. These animals, now in "arribada mode", will come out during the night and day and be almost oblivious to disturbance by man or animal, light or sound. Bumping into each other, crawling over each other, they are automatons on their way to fulfil a predetermined task; lay their eggs at all cost.
The largest arribada recorded in Ostional, took place in November 1995 when a calculated 500 000 females came ashore.
