Las Tortugas Research Station

Founded in 2000 by biologist Stanley Rodriguez, this research station is located along the northern Caribbean coast, about 10 miles north of Limon and south of Tortuguero National Park.  The 3 km (2 mile) beach hosts nesting leatherbacks from March to June each year.  The stretch of beach that this project protects goes from the Mondonguillo River to the Serafin River.

The station is home to one of the only sea turtle educational centers in the country, called "Las Siete Quillas" (seven quills) after the seven ridges on the carapace of leatherbacks.  The museum was built with the support of the EcoTeach Foundation and has hosted hundreds of local and foreign students who study the bilingual information displays and interactive games.

The station protects between 250 - 400 nests per year and their work has resulted in the amount of poaching dropping to less than 10 percent.  The station lies between the ocean and the Tortuguero canals and is surrounded by rainforest.

Learn more about Las Tortugas here.