2022

On August and September 2022, I traveled the South Pacific coast of Nicaragua from Playa Maderas (San Juan del Sur) to Playa Guasacate (Popoyo). Hundreds of sea turtles of the Olive Ridley and Leatherback species were found washed up on the beaches in what seems another ecological disaster. Most of these turtles were found on those shores close to tortugeros, turtle Conservation centers. Places like Playa La Flor, Playa Maderas, and El Astillero. Talking to people on every single beach I had been, they told me that a few weeks before these sightings, they had seen many huge fishing boats stationing far away off the coast. These boats, called langosteros, fish prawns, shrimps, and any kind of seafood raking up whatever get caught in their nets, and then move away. It is very plausible that all these dead turtles got trapped in their nets, and then thrown away in the sea.