It’s Friday - and officially the last day of the project here in Nicaragua. We all met for breakfast and then geared up to go sea turtle watching. I had seen many baby turtles, but I could not leave without seeing at least one adult turtle. Jose wanted to show us how they monitor the turtles coming to the beach. Ideally, they want males so that they can tag them and take DNA testing for their research – but it’s harder to find males since they don’t come ashore to lay eggs.

Today, we met very early to pack the truck and head out to El Astillero community. It took us almost four hours to get there.

Our first stop was to collaborate with youth volunteers that come from homes in which the parents used to poach sea turtles, and sell and eat their eggs. These teens now come and share their experiences with the children at the schools in order to make a difference in sea turtle conservation. FFI is working with families in these communities by helping them find other alternatives for work.

Since 2003, the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has helped over 500 projects around the world with Species Research, Habitat Protection, Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation and Conservation Education. My name is Yaritza Aponte and I have been selected as an ambassador for the Fund to travel to Nicaragua and work with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) to help educate locals on the importance of conserving the Sea Turtles.