Como estas? Me llamo Esmeralda! I come from a very special place – Tortuguero, Costa Rica. My green turtle friends and I love to nest at Tortuguero, but I have something scary to tell you… We were almost completely wiped out not too long ago by people trying to eat us! Luckily Dr. Archie Carr saved us just in the nick of time, but illegal hunting of turtles still happens today. Did you know that people consume turtle meat? You can still help my cause by supporting ecotourism programs based on living turtles and not consumption, keeping a safe distance away from nesting turtles, and reporting any illegal hunting activity. My friends at Shark Reef also promised to support me in the Tour de Turtles by educating the public about how important sea turtles are to the ecosystem, so let’s work together to help spread the word and cheer me on as I race for this important cause!

I was named by my Sponsor, Shark Reef. Check out my marathon migration map, where you can follow along as I swim to raise awareness about the threat of Adult Harvest for Consumption to sea turtles. Please help me raise awareness about my cause by supporting me!

Learn more about green turtle sea turtles.