ADOPTION PROGRAM

Our adoption program ensures that your investment will go directly towards the preservation and research of both adult and baby turtles. With just 1/1000 survival rate, the tiny hatchlings need all the help they can get, and your donation will provide the vital care and protection that the turtles need.

"Sincere thanks for your generous contribution to LAST"

Baby turtle (US$35)
Approximately 60 days after egg-laying, baby turtles emerge from their sandy nests on our warm tropical beaches (or in the safety of a guarded hatchery) and find their way to the sea. Each adoptive parent receives our Adoption Package which includes: a Certificate of Adoption, information about your adopted turtle(s) (including a photograph of the turtle(s)), and our periodic (at least annual) eBulletin.

Nest (US$50)
In Costa Rica, sea turtles nests are exposed to several threats including poaching (egg theft), erosion, saltwater inundation, effects of global warming and predation. In response, the sea turtle programs in these areas prioritize conservation measures designed to maximize nest protection and survival. If you adopt a nest, you will receive in exchange our Adoption Package which includes: a Certificate of Adoption, information about your adopted nest(s) (including photographs of the turtle(s) and hatchery), and our periodic (at least annual) eBulletin.

Adult female turtle (US$250)
Our long-term nesting beach monitoring activities have identified (by flipper-tagging) several hundred nesting females, meaning that we can recognize them from year to year, assemble their reproductive histories, and rejoice that they survived another year at their foraging grounds (far from the nesting beach). If you adopt a nesting female you will receive our Adoption Package which includes: a Certificate of Adoption, information about your adopted turtle(s) (including a photographs), and our periodic (at least annual) eBulletin, and end-of-year summary of the results of the research carried out on our nesting beaches.

Hatchery (US$500)
A hatchery is rescue center where sea turtle eggs are incubated, and continuous care is given, in order to ensure the release of live hatchlings to the sea following a period of embryonic development. The hatchery safeguards the eggs from threats ranging from their consumption by human and non-human predators to their loss to storms and erosion. Hatcheries are built in all beaches under LAST responsibility with government authorization. By adopting a hatchery or rescue center for sick turtles, you provide essential support in the management and care of key life stage and will receive our Adoption Package, an exclusive program T-shirt, and an end-of-year summary of the results of the research carried out on our nesting beaches.

Beach sector (US$1000)
Our monitored nesting beaches are divided into sectors to facilitate systematic monitoring and record-keeping throughout the annual nesting season. By adopting a beach sector you will be co-financing the continuation of this essential field work, and increasing our opportunities to identify, tag and safeguard individual turtles and their eggs. For supporting our works at this level, you will receive our Adoption Package (including a description of the year habitat and its overall importance as a sea turtle nesting ground), our periodic (at least annual) eBulletin, an exclusive T-shirt, and an end-of-year summary of the results of the research carried out on our nesting beaches.

Adult female turtle with satellite transmitter (US$5000)
Our program has successfully deployed satellite transmitters on post-nesting and feeding sea turtles in order to obtain critical information about their localized, oceanic movements and migratory patterns, all key information to propose effective conservative actions. This information is available in no other way, and provides managers and policy-makers in Costa Rica and beyond unique insight into the conservation needs of these imperiled species away from the nesting beach. By enabling the deployment of a satellite transmitter, you will receive our Adoption Package (including biological information and details of the female turtle’s open ocean movements, exclusive T-shirt, and en end-of-year summary of the results of the research carried out on our nesting beaches.

Payment Options

Send a check payable to LAST in US Dollars to: LAST 6116 High Meadow Drive Godfrey, Illinois 62035 USA. To pay online using PayPal, click here and follow the instructions. Be sure to write "Costa Rican Adoption" in the instructions line! Otherwise, LAST will not know where to credit your donation.