Sea turtles' turn

Sad to say, a creature that has lived in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica for 150 million years is severly threatened. And all it took was humans.

Sea turtles have become so scarce that the Leatherback Sea Turtle National Park and a related museum in Playa Grande are both defunct, for all practical (and tourist) purposes.

What happened? Beach development, drift net fishing and Costa Ricans' custom of eating turtle eggs, that's what happened. However, climate change is the overarching reason. It has caused rising seas, more violent storm surges and slow increases in beach temperature (which can result in all-female populations -- obviously a problem.)

Heroic efforts are being made to artifically cool turtle nests and protect coastal property from development so turtles have a place to nest as the sea rises. But the back of the beach is already fillled with hotels, restaurants and planted trees, giving the sand no place to go. "Turtles will have to find their way between the tennis courts and swimming pools," as one person observed.

The ultimate irony: many of those who enjoy slurping turtle eggs in bars from a shot glass . . . have never seen a turtle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/science/earth/14turtles.html?emc=eta1

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They light up my life . . . less

Ahhhhhhh! Lightning bugs! Fireflies! dear familiar glowing and flickering signs of summer. This year, the first one was spotted and noted on June 27th. Now the question is, how long they'll linger this year. Meanwhile, various nature establishments and farms are offering firefly festivals and lightning bug walks.

The happy news is that these events are evidently publicized without fear of throwing a party that no fireflies (can) come to . . . because there are no fireflies. But late last summer, just as I was thinking I'd seen fewer lightning bugs than usual, I was unhappily surprised to hear a radio program on which the fade out of fireflies was the subject.

Reportedly, lightning bugs (like so many others in animalia) are in trouble. They're losing habitat and they're being affected by pesticides. (insecticides? both?) That was sad news but not really surprising once I stopped and thought about it. Beyond the habitat destruction caused by development seemingly everywhere, there's also the array of killers and deterrents that homeowners and communities spray in the interest of perfect green grass without dandelions and mosquito-free backyards, etc., etc.

Sure, individuals can go organic, no-kill and all the other good stuff. Entire communities can do the same. But they'll still be surrounded by those who develop and spray.

The NYTimes recently ran a fascinating science story about the different blink patterns (shades of lighthouses and their "characteristics"!) of male fireflies, and the reaction patterns of females. But so that future generations can see and enjoy this phenomenon, we must "save the lightning bugs!"
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