Do you recall the scene in Episode 1 where the young women of Bayoneta, while walking about to choose a camp site, came across a dead sea turtle on the beach. After a discussion of the symbolism of turtles and mother earth, the three women continued on. They might have been referring to the legend of a kind "Turtle Mother" prevalent in Nicaraguan culture. See Search for the Gret Turtle Mother. Unfortunately, that kind of reverence has not saved the sea turtle from global threat.
We don't know what species that little turtle was, but no doubt it was one of the turtle species whose females have traditionally come to the Bocas del Toro archipelago to lay their eggs.
In the Bocas del Toro archipelago, the isolated beach at Chiriquí is part of the Damani-Isla Escudo de Veraguas Wetlands Reserve, a protected area of approximately 24,000 hectares designated by the Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous territory, which includes coral reef, tropical rainforest and mangroves.
It's to this beach that female hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles return every year to lay their eggs. These two species are on the critically endangered list and are protected by the "Caribbean Conservation Corporation and a large group of local, national and international project partners and donors as part of the Hawksbill Turtle Research and Population Recovery Project at Chiriqui Beach, Escudo de Veraguas Island, Nö Kribo region, Ngöbe-Buglé Comarca and Isla Bastimentos Marine National Park. The project aims to monitor and recover the region's nesting sea turtles through permanent community participation." Chiriqui Beach – Panama.
Hawksbill turtles are so named for its narrow head and hawk-like beak. It is their carapace (shell) that was prized as tortoise shell hair ornaments, jewelry, and other decorative items. They are one of the smaller species.
On the other end of the size scale, the leatherback turtles with their thin, rubbery skin are the largest, weigh up to 1500 pounds or more.
In this area of Panama, there's a vounteer effort to track and record the movements of the turtles, but may not touch or hinder the locals who have traditionally used the turtles for food and economic gain.
Who knew that when the women of Bayoneta were inadvertently involved with conservation efforts?
There's more about sea turtles at Sea Turtles of Latin America.
