For decades, our work to save the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle has taken us across the world – from the beaches of California to the remote shores of Papua New Guinea, where these magnificent giants come ashore to nest.

Leatherbacks make one of the longest migrations on Earth – swimming thousands of miles from Indonesia to the U.S. West Coast to feed on jellyfish. Yet, along their journey, they face mounting threats: poaching, coastal development, sand mining and climate change.

To protect them at their nesting grounds in Papua New Guinea (PNG), we partnered with Wences Magun, an inspiring local leader who we helped found Mas Kagin Tapani Association (MAKATA) — meaning “Sea Guardians” in the local Takia and Bel languages of Madang.

Twenty years later, Wences is still on the beaches protecting mother turtles and their eggs, organizing communities to create “conservation deed trusts” that secure local stewardship of coastal lands, supporting women’s sewing cooperativesto generate equity and income and fighting destructive sand mining that threatens turtle nesting sites.

He teaches us all, “When we look after the sea, it looks after us.” Now, he needs our help.

We are establishing a special Leatherback Protection Fund, with 100% of donations going directly to MAKATA’s on-the-ground conservation efforts. Your tax-deductible gift will empower local Sea Guardians to continue protecting nesting beaches, support community livelihoods and ensure these ancient mariners have a fighting chance for survival.

Please give today – for the leatherbacks, for the ocean and for the people who have vowed to protect them.

This summer I attended the United Nations Ocean Conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, with a clear purpose: to urge Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles to finalize protection for the Cocos–Galápagos Swimway. This vital migratory corridor connects two of the world’s most important marine reserves and is now supported by more than 150 NGOs, 350 scientists from 41 nations, and over 10,000 members of the public who have formally called on the Costa Rican government to act.

You might expect that Costa Rica, famous for its environmental leadership, would champion this effort to protect endangered marine wildlife. The Swimway would safeguard at least four species of endangered sharks and two species of endangered sea turtles, including the magnificent hammerhead and whale sharks and the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle. These species travel this route every year, playing a vital role in maintaining the health of our ocean ecosystems.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case and what I learned about the political situation in Costa Rica may shock you. Costa Rican President Chaves has taken a stance at odds with Costa Rica’s proud legacy of environmental stewardship and democratic transparency. Environmental and civil society leaders in Costa Rica report that his administration has sought to silence critics — from journalists and university scientists to everyday citizens. The parallels to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s tactics are hard to ignore. You can read more about this troubling trend — and what’s at stake for ocean conservation — in my op-ed first published in the Revelator, published by the Center for Biological Diversity.

This summer I attended the United Nations Ocean Conference, cosponsored by France and Costa Rica, to pressure Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles to complete the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway, now supported by more than 150 NGOs, 350-plus scientists from 41 nations, and more than 10,000 members of the public who have expressed their written support to the Costa Rican government.

You might think Costa Rica with its lengthy reputation of environmental protection would be an ardent supporter of this important marine protected area that will protect at least four species of endangered sharks and two species of endangered sea turtles, including endangered hammerhead and whale sharks and critically endangered leatherback sea turtles, all of whom migrate along the Swimway and play an integral ecological role in the health of the Ocean. Unfortunately, you would be wrong.

Costa Rica’s President Chaves been contrary to Costa Rica’s longstanding status as an environmental and democratic leader, but the president has taken undemocratic actions to tamp down criticism — ranging from the public to university scientists and media, according to environmental and civil rights leaders within Costa Rica. Sound familiar? It appears Chaves is taking his cues from President Donald Trump.

Map of Proposed Cocos-Galapagos Swimway. Credit MigraMar.org

Most marine protected areas are designated within a specific country’s territorial waters to protect species who generally do not migrate far. The C-G Swimway, by contrast, would be a bilateral marine protected area that would connect Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park to Ecuador’s Galápagos Marine Reserve to protect highly migratory species. When completed it will stretch approximately 400 miles and encompass a large swath of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean that’s under the control of these two nations through their respective and overlapping Exclusive Economic Zones.

More importantly, it will protect at least four species of endangered sharks and two species of endangered sea turtles, including endangered hammerhead and whale sharks and critically endangered leatherback sea turtles, all of whom migrate along the Swimway and play an integral ecological role in the health of these two UN Biosphere Reserves. The two reserves share many species in common, including vast schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks.

Hammerhead sharks at Cocos Island. Photo: Edwar Herreno

Ecuador protected its half of the Swimway in 2021 by enlarging its no-fishing zone to the border of Costa Rica. Shockingly, Costa Rica has failed to act. While Costa Rica has long rested on its reputation of being one the “greenest” and most democratic nations in Latin America — 25% of its land is protected in national parks and other reserves, and the country abolished its military forces in 1948 — its failure to act and opposition signals a new alarming chapter.

Today, many North Americans are surprised to learn that Costa Rica’s vast ocean area — 11 times larger than its land mass — and its marine wildlife are highly exploited by industrial fishers that have more influence over policy under Chaves than before. This threatens the ocean areas and the ecological integrity of Costa Rica’s marine ecosystems. And now they’re under even greater threat.

Not only have Chaves’s actions been contrary to Costa Rica’s longstanding status as an environmental and democratic leader, but the president has taken undemocratic actions to tamp down criticism — ranging from the public to university scientists and media, according to environmental and civil rights leaders within Costa Rica. Sound familiar? It appears Chaves is taking his cues from President Donald Trump.

In what can only be called boastful greenwashing, he basked in the limelight of the UN gathering of over 15,000 attendees, serving as cochair of the conference and addressing the delegates in boastful platitudes about Costa Rica’s ocean-protection actions. In reality his administration has stalled, stymied and rolled back protections for sharks, sea turtles, and other marine species found in the country’s jurisdictional waters and failed to take action to complete the Swimway.

Costa Rica President Chaves at United Nations Ocean Conference, Nice France. Photo: Lynette McLamb

For example, President Chaves took credit for the 2021 Costa Rica expansion of Cocos Island National Park and the Bicentennial Marine Management Area, which has allowed Costa Rica to falsely misrepresent that it has met its 30×30 ocean protection goal, a global initiative by over 100 countries to conserve at least 30% of the Earth’s land and ocean areas by 2030.

But the policies to protect the 38,600 square mile marine area — created by Chaves’ predecessor — have stalled under his leadership, as he ignores a multitude of scientific studies indicating the importance of protecting the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway. More than three years into his presidency, the area remains a marine “protected” area in name only — with no regulations in place to restrict fishing or other harmful activities that are driving critically endangered leatherback turtles and sharks toward extinction.

Chaves’ rhetoric at the UN Ocean Conference was slammed as hypocritical by legislators, environmentalists and Costa Rican civil society. To tamp down dissent, his administration even obstructed renowned Costa Rican marine scientists’ UN accreditations, having them withdrawn to thwart democratic political discourse. Some are now referring to Chaves as a “mini-Trump.” In June Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal banned him from participating in next year’s 2026 election campaign, highlighting the ongoing tensions between his administration and Costa Rica’s judicial branches.

And in July Costa Rica’s Supreme Court asked the country’s legislature to strip Chaves of his legal immunity so he can stand trial on corruption charges. Costa Rican environmental activist Randall Arauz, a recipient of Goldman Environmental Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious environmental awards, was on hand to criticize the Chaves administration for its failure to protect marine wildlife.

“How can the Costa Rican government claim to be protecting our oceans,” he said, “when they ignore a Supreme Court order to end the fishing of endangered hammerhead sharks and continue to allow commercialization of marine wildlife for the profit of a few and at the expense of healthy marine ecosystems? Hypocrisy is an understatement. They are in the pockets of the industrial fishing industry.”

“Without strict regulations to eliminate fishing along the Swimway, sea turtles and sharks will continue to die on longline hooks,” said Ken Bouley, executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network.

Costa Rica can and hopefully will live up to its longstanding international reputation as an environmental leader by completing the Swimway and banning the commercial exploitation of endangered hammerhead sharks. Unfortunately, it may have to await the will of Costa Rican citizens to elect a truly green president in next year’s election.

Three ways to take action: Tell Chaves to complete the Cocos-Galapagos and protect two UN Biosphere Reserves!

1. Individuals
2. Scientists
3. Organizations

Photo by Kaylam-Pratt on a TIRN Cocos Island Expedition trip.

For Immediate Release, July 23, 2025

Contact: Todd Steiner, Founder & Special Projects, TSteiner@seaturtles.org   

This Shark Week, Turtle Island Restoration Network Calls for Action to Protect the Ocean’s True Stars: As Shark Populations Plummet Worldwide, Advocates Urge Costa Rica to Protect Critical Migration Corridor

UNITED STATES – As millions of viewers celebrate the awe and mystery of sharks during Discovery Channel’s iconic summer series, Shark Week, Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) — a leading ocean and watershed conservation nonprofit — is calling on the global citizens and policymakers alike to take meaningful action to protect these magnificent predators before it’s too late.

Every year, more than 100 million sharks are killed in commercial fisheries*, driving many endangered species — like scalloped hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, silky sharks, and tiger sharks — toward extinction. Yet these same species keep entire marine ecosystems healthy by maintaining the balance of ocean food webs.

“The public’s understanding of the ecologically important role sharks play in maintaining healthy oceans has grown tremendously in recent years, but this has not yet translated to a decrease in fishing mortality. While shark finning is down, shark meat consumption is up according to a recent study*. This Shark Week, we urge everyone who loves these animals on screen to take real-world action to protect them in the wild.” said Todd Steiner, ecologist and founder of the international environmental organization, Turtle Island Restoration Network.

Many shark species are highly migratory and travel outside the territorial waters of any single nation. One of the most urgent opportunities for action to protect sharks is the completion of the Cocos–Galápagos Swimway, a proposed marine protected migration corridor linking Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands with Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park. This 396-mile underwater “blue highway” is a lifeline for countless charismatic marine species, including hammerheads, whale sharks, tiger sharks and silky sharks that travel between these UNESCO World Heritage sites.

While Ecuador has protected its portion of the Swimway with a no-take marine reserve, Costa Rica has yet to secure its share, leaving migrating sharks vulnerable to industrial fishing and illegal poaching as they travel the open ocean.

“The science is clear: protecting small islands alone isn’t enough for highly migratory species… If we want to keep seeing hammerheads and whales sharks on our screens, and in our oceans, we need bold action now to protect their entire migratory routes,” Steiner concluded.

Turtle Island Restoration Network has championed this ‘swimway’ approach for decades. Early campaigns in the Gulf of Mexico helped safeguard migration routes for the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, aiding the species’ recovery. Now, the same proven strategy can protect some of the ocean’s most perfectly evolved predators… the real stars of Shark Week.

How Anyone Can Help Conservation This Shark Week:

• Individuals use their voices here
• Scientists sign on in support here
• Organizations join the coalition here

For more information on the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway campaign and to take action with us, visit www.seaturtles.org/the-cocos-galapagos-swimway. Access media for a Cocos-Galapagos press story here.

*Worm et al., Global shark fishing mortality still rising despite widespread regulatory change. Science 383, 225–230 (2024) 12 January 2024.  

Turtle Island Restoration Network is a global ocean conservation nonprofit with offices in California and Texas, whose mission is to inspire and mobilize people around the world to protect marine biodiversity, the oceans and watersheds that sustain all life on Earth.

The United Nations Ocean Conference was co-sponsored by Costa Rica and France took place in Nice in 9-13 April 2025 and TIRN was there to turn up the pressure on Costa Rica to complete the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway.

In the days leading up to the conference, TIRN founder Todd Steiner wrote and co-authored two opinion editorials (op-eds) with scientists in Ecuador and Costa Rica published in two of Costa Rica’s leading newspapers, Delfino (in Spanish) and Tico Times (in English).

TIRN also attempted to deliver more than 11,000 open letters from citizens around the world, 53 non-governmental organizations and more than 348 from 41 different nations, but Costa Rican Consul Generals in Los Angeles and Houston refused to meet with TIRN representatives.

While Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves Robles basked in the limelight of the gathering of over 15,000 attendees, as the co-chair of the UN Conference, and spoke in platitudes about how great Costa Rica’s ocean protection actions are, in reality his administration has stalled, stymied and rolled back protections for sharks, sea turtles and other marine species found in its jurisdictional waters.

President Chavez took credit for the 2021 Costa Rica expansion of Cocos Island National Park and the Bicentennial Marine Management Area (BMMA), which together has allowed Costa Rica to falsely misrepresent that it has met its 30-30 ocean protection goal, a a global initiative to conserve at least 30% of the Earth’s land and ocean areas by 2030, agreed to by over 100 countries.

In reality under Chavez, policies to protect the 38,600 square mile BMMA has stalled, as he ignores a multitude of scientific studies indicating the importance of protecting the Swimway.  More than three years into his presidency, the area remains a marine ‘protected’ area (MPA) in name only– with no regulations in place to restrict fishing or other harmful activities that are driving critically endangered leatherback turtles and sharks toward extinction.

Chavez rhetoric at the  UN Ocean Conference was slammed as hypocritical by legislators, environmentalists and Costa Rican civil society. To tamp down dissent, his administration even obstructed renowned Costa Rican marine scientists UN accreditations, having them withdrawn to thwart democratic political discourse (read more here). Some have compared Chavez anti-democratic actions to tendencies now occurring in the US, referring to him as a “mini-Trump.” 

Former long-time TIRN staffer Randall Arauz, now with Marine Watch International, also criticized the Chavez administration for its failure to protect marine wildlife.

“How can the Costa Rican government claim to be protecting our oceans, when they ignore a Supreme Court order to end the fishing of endangered hammerhead sharks and continue to allow commercialization of marine wildlife for the profit of a few and at the expensive of healthy marine ecosystems? Hypocrisy in an understatement. They are in the pockets of the industrial fishing industry,” said Aaruz

Chaves term as President is coming to an end this year, and if he fails to act, TIRN has vowed to make completion of the Swimway an issue in the 2026 Presidential elections.

“Without strict regulations to eliminate fishing along the Swimway, sea turtles and sharks will continue to die on longline hooks,” said Todd Steiner and founder of TIRN.

He continued, “Ecuador enacted protections of its portion of the Swimway in 2021, but to date, Costa Rica has failed to take the necessary actions to ensure the protections necessary to ensure the long-term survival of these interconnected marine ecosystem of these UN Biosphere Reserves. We call on Costa Rica to take immediate action!”

In the meantime, TIRN will continue to increase the scientific foundation underlying the need for the Swimway , while expanding the coalition of scientists, NGOs and citizens around the world demanding Costa Rica take action to protect endangered turtles, sharks and the two of the world’s premiere UN Biosphere Reserves diversity hotspots.

As of 6/25/25

Alert: 11,338

Scientists: 348 from 41 different countries

NGOs: 53

The rescue was featured on local news, including 10 Tampa Bay. There’s footage of the rescue, as well as an interview with the crew that saved the leatherback from disaster.

Endangered leatherbacks are often the victim of entanglement in commercial fishing gear like crab and lobster pot ropes, drift-gill nets and longline fishing gear. In the leatherback rescue in Florida, the charter crew mentioned the use of crab traps in the area.

Turtle Island’s leatherback program is centered around stopping these entanglements and protecting nesting beaches.  Less than 50 years ago, leatherback sea turtles—Earth’s largest living reptiles—were thriving in the world’s oceans. Today, due to unsustainable human activities, the leatherback sea turtle is teetering on the edge of extinction. This recent rescue is an example of the impact human activity is having on these creatures.

You can get involved in our work or donate to help fund our work for our blue-green planet.

Playa Naranjo is located in Santa Rosa National Park, Guanacaste. This remote paradisiacal beach, famous among surfers, is within a five hour drive from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica and can only be accessed by 4×4 vehicles. Naranjo is a secondary nesting beach for endangered leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea).

You can view the footage of the sea turtle below.

credit: Carlos Perez