Personnel in the marine turtle program met with a grisly sight on their first trip to Changuinola Beach this year. Acting on a tip from local Drago resident, Sammy Sanchez, that leatherbacks were being poached on Changuinola Beach, the turtle crew went to see first-hand. Eighteen leatherback carcasses were discovered within a 2 km stretch of beach just south of the Changuinola River mouth. Some of the dead turtles had been there several weeks, but others were quite recent and a poacher’s camp was found on the beach. From the physical evidence present, poachers appear to slaughter leatherbacks by first cutting the flippers off of living turtles so that they can be turned more easily onto their backs, and then the plastron is cut away to expose the entrails. After removing both shelled and oviducal (unshelled) eggs, the probably still-living female turtle is left to die a slow death on the beach. Due to the unpleasant taste of leatherback flesh, the meat is not used although folklore has it that the blood is sometimes used in rituals by local Indians.

ITEC’s Cathy Murray and Peter Lahanas examine a poached leatherback on Changuinola Beach. More than 30 dead leatherbacks were discovered on this beach.

Although this area is within the San San-Pond Sock National Preserve, there is no enforcement of national laws forbidding such activity. Between June andJuly a total of 31 leatherback carcasses were recorded on Changuinola Beach. The number of dead turtles coincided with reduced nesting along this stretch. The turtle project reported that because leatherbacks generally return to the same beach to lay eggs 7-9 times in any one season, the probability of catching all the individuals nesting in any particular year is high. Thus, by early July there were few nests recorded here while leatherback nests were still abundant on Bluff and Long Beaches in the Islands. It was calculated that about 75-80% of all the leatherbacks nesting on Changuinola Beach in 1998 were taken by poachers.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

STUDENTS AT BOCA DEL DRAGO SCHOOL RECEIVE LESSONS IN CONSERVATION AND REFORESTATION

For the first time a program of conservation education was presented at the rural school in Boca del Drago. This tiny two-room school with outhouse, represents the learning focal point for this small community of mostly indigenous Ngöbe Indians. Conservation education directed at native populations will reap the greatest benefits because most of the environmental degradation stems from their use of the land for subsistence farming.
Chris Wedding presented the program as part of his senior thesis at Western Kentucky University. The program was six weeks in length, and had two components, conservation education and reforestation.

CONSERVATION EDUCATION PROGRAM AT DRAGO SCHOOL

To determine what students’ attitudes were towards conservation, Chris ran a survey which asked the following questions: Do you live in the city or country? Do you live near forests, streams or lakes? Do you enjoy living near them? Why? What is good about natural environments like forests, lakes, streams, beaches, reefs and ocean? How can they benefit you? Should we preserve nature? Why? How?
In response to the survey Chris discovered that very few of the students had much to say about conservation in general, and were unclear about the concept. He then provided the students a with a list of why forests are good and should be protected. Chris taught them that forests are beneficial because they:

1) provide oxygen which we need to breathe, 2) take in carbon dioxide which helps fight the greenhouse effect, 3) clean and filter air and water, 4) prevent erosion and soil depletion, 5) provide many plants that contain medicinal properties, 6) provide shade and cooler regional temperatures, 7) provide homes for wildlife (illustrated by pointing out that animals need homes like us), 8) provide foundation for eco-tourism which brings in jobs and money, 9) provide wood for houses, 10) provide an opportunity for study, and 11) satisfy the human need for beautiful surroundings.
Chris also pointed out that reef, ocean, and lake environments are also beneficial because that they: 1) provide opportunity for tourism which brings in jobs and money, 2) provide home for amazing animals like spiny crustaceans, colorful fish, and varied turtles, and 3) satisfy our need for beauty, and of course, are fun to swim in.

Other aspects of his program included the recital of mantras, such as "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle", or, "We will never throw trash on the ground or in the streams, lakes or ocean" and "We will do these things to preserve the beauty of Panamá". Chris says that the recitation of such mantras was helpful. "One day as we were picking up trash, a bright student smiled and repeated the 'no littering' mantra showing that she made the connection between the saying and the practice. Other activities that proved instructive were games and demonstrations that taught ecological concepts, nutrient recycling, and the causes for the different life zones present around the world. Chris also had the children decorate their classrooms with artifacts from nature. These physical artifacts, such as interesting sticks, rocks, flowers, plants added a tangible dimension to the lectures.

REFORESTATION PROJECT AT BOCA DEL DRAGO SCHOOL

Chris Wedding, and ITEC would like to extend a special thanks to Fatima Sanchez, head teacher at Boca del Drago school, for allowing the program to be presented. Ms. Sanchez clearly understands the need for conservation in Bocas del Toro and in Panamá, and should be highly commended for her eager participation in this program.

ITEC TEACHES ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AT THE BOCAS DEL TORO SCHOOL

This July three ITEC volunteers, Sergio Camberos, Seth Cloues, and Lisa Shender, initiated an environmental education program with the 5th and 6th grade classes of the Bocas del Toro elementary school. Volunteers met with each class twice during a two-week period to provide instruction in Spanish on topics such as the water cycle, pollution and contamination, recycling, and deforestation. Classes were an hour in length and incorporated interactive educational games, poster presentations, demonstrations, and mini-lectures.

Students from local schools and ITEC personnel work to clean Sandfly Beach, Bocas del Toro. More than 100 people participated in various aspects of this effort.
For example during a session on the water cycle, kids first learned the concepts of cohesion, adhesion, and evaporation. They then played a tag game which illustrated how a drop of water falling from a rain cloud can go from a river, to a lake, to a cow, to the cow's milk, to a human body, to the ocean, and finally back into a cloud. The kids learned how pollution is introduced into the cycle (i.e. motor oil dumped from a boat into the ocean or pesticide sprays in banana plantations) and how pollution affects both the animals and people who are dependent on water.

The children were very excited (to the point of being rowdy) to participate in these activities and the teachers were very appreciative of ITEC's efforts (and probably glad to get the kids off their hands for an hour). It was a learning experience for both the children and program volunteers, and it is our hope that ITEC will continue to develop its environmental education program next summer.

MORE THAN 50 CHILDREN PARTICIPATE IN FIRST ANNUAL BEACH CLEANUP

On July 25th, 52 children participated in a beach clean-up which was organized by program volunteers, Sergio Camberos and Lisa Shender. From 12 noon to 2:30p.m., kids collected trash on the approximately 2 km stretch of beach, collecting over 100 13-gallon bags of garbage. Forty-one local businesses donated money and refreshments, such as cookies, punch, and hot dogs for the children's enjoyment. Although participants were paid $0.25 for each bag of trash collected, ITEC emphasized that the kids were not there to earn money, but rather to clean the beach for a safer and cleaner environment for both people and animals. Because the beach clean-up was done in conjunction with the environmental education program, 5th and 6th graders were the main participants. All excess donated money ($60) was given to the elementary school for the purchase of classroom waste baskets which the school teachers greatly needed.
This group effort was a great success. Both kids and ITEC volunteers enjoyed the clean-up and the beach looked 100% better afterwards. When the beach had been cleaned, and the kids were feasting on cookies and punch, I saw a boy throw his cookie wrapper on the sand. I was frustrated that he had not seemed to learn from the day's cleaning activities. However, I was quickly reassured when I overheard a girl say to him, "What are you throwing trash for? We're trying to clean the beach!" It's obvious that one day of cleaning isn't going to change the habits that are ingrained in so many children (and adults too), but we hope the beach clean-up was a positive influence and that the kids who participated will think twice before littering the beach or elsewhere.

OTHER STATION ACTIVITIES

The expedition began by driving ITEC's field vehicle, "Bessy" on to the ferry, Palanga, and sailing three hours to the port city of Chiriqui Grande on the opposite end of Chiriqui Bay. Plenty of time here to relax and watch the archipelago with its many mangrove islands slip by, or catch up on that novel started a month ago. From Chiriqui Grande we drove the only road out of town, southwestward and straight up the Caribbean side of the Chiriqui mountains. After stopping briefly on the continental divide at 4000 ft to take in the view of the Pacific Ocean, we proceeded back down into the much dryer Pacific versant of Panamá. Here the lush and largely intact rainforest vegetation of the Caribbean side, gives way to pastures, savannas and dryforest patches. From hot and humid David, the largest city in western Panamá, we headed back up into the cool Chiriqui mountains to the small town of Boquete nestled in a high valley at the foot of 10,000 ft Volcan Barú. Boquete, as its name implies, is a beautiful cloudforest village home to Panamá's annual flower festival. The next morning we woke early and headed to the Quetzal Trail which has its start at the end of a steep, rocky canyon. After crossing a suspension foot-bridge, we headed directly into the dripping, cool cloud forest. We have seen quetzals along this trail previously, but none were sighted on this day. Still, many other birds were recorded and the views were fantastic. The differences between this cloud forest and the lowland rain forests of Bocas del Toro are striking, especially with regard to epiphytic growth. Bromeliads, orchids, pipers, aroids, begonias, mosses, ferns and liverworts covered every square inch of trees and rocks, and brightly-colored impatience formed thick hedges along the mountain trail.

In the early afternoon we returned to David and bought a new set of tires for Bessy, which were sorely needed. From here we headed east on the Pan-American Highway towards Panamá City. After driving 50 miles or so a terrible screeching sound suddenly began emanating from the transmission. Not wanting to stop, and having nowhere to do so, we continued on, hoping to get to Panamá City where we could have it looked at and repaired. We spent the night in Santiago and the next morning drove out to Sarigua National Park. The vegetation here, tropical thorn scrub, is unlike any other in lower Central America and consists primarily of acacias and other xeric-adapted trees, several types of cacti, and bright-red latiritic soils. Surrounding a large inland bay, this area was historically an important hunting ground for pre-Colombian Indians 4000-5000 years ago. Everywhere was evidence of human occupation with artifacts, such as bone, flint points and pottery shards littering the ground. Huge shellfish middens were everywhere. Maria Tway, a graduate student at Florida State University specializing in Mayan archaeology was delighted to finally be doing something --- archaeological! At one point we discovered a large "mano" (a roller-pin-like grain-grinding tool made of stone) and joined park personnel in its excavation. This turned out to be one of the best manos found in the area and along with several interesting pottery shards found, was put on display in the park's museum. Sarigua is near the picturesque village of Parita, a Spanish settlement dating from the early 1600s. The architecture is typically Spanish with colorful adobe houses, red-tiled roofs and gated courtyards. We stopped off at the town's cathedral, a gleaming white structure with oyster-shells embedded in the bell tower. Built in 1652, this is one of the oldest churches in Panamá.

We continued east in the afternoon and just outside La Chorrera, only 40 minutes from Panamá City, Bessy's tranny finally gave out. She completely refused to go forward or backwards. So with all of us riding in the car, we were towed to a nearby mechanic's shop. We were a bit dubious at first that these shade-tree mechanics (literally, with mangos falling all around!) could do the job. Our fears were alleviated though, when in just under an hour these guys had the transmission out and torn apart. The damage was not as severe as we had feared. Three bearings and two gears were toast, but the housing was fine. Still, it would take 12 more days before it was repaired and the after-course trip continued on without poor Bessy.

Fortunately, we had very good friends in Panamá City. Student X (TRE-98-1) and her parents M and L invited us into their palatial home near Panama City. The home sits on a hill surrounded by forest, and overlooks the Panamá City skyline 10 miles away. And then there were Juma and Titi. They often take in lost, abandoned or wild animals that have no where else to go. Juma, a white-faced capuchin, and Titi, a Geoffrey's tamarin were adopted in this way. Juma was particularly entertaining. M. described him as a two year old on steroids. He was constantly getting into things and would often run off with an item to some inaccessible location and taunt the person begging for the item back. He could make up for it though, when he jumped onto your shoulder, pressed his mouth to your neck, and purred!

We used the residence as our home base while we explored the eastern end of Panamá. The next morning we took the busses to Portobelo. Portobelo was the disembarking point for gold plundered from South America and destined for Spain. A heavily armed fortress was built here made famous by visits from Henry Morgan, Sir Frances Drake, and other pirates of the Spanish Caribbean. Some of us also took advantage of the many sights that Panamá City had to offer, and visited Panamá Vieja, the Indian markets, the colonial section, the Panamá Canal and museums.

One of the highlights of our time in the canal zone was our trip to an Emberá village on the Rio Chagres. The Rio Chagres provides most of the water flow into Lake Gatun, which in turn flows north and south keeping the Panamá Canal operational. We met the Emberá chief at his dugout along the river and travel upstream about an hour to his village. There we were entertained with traditional dances, crafts, and information on Emberá culture. The Emberá are derived from the Chocoan Indians of western Colombia and are culturally and physically very different from the Ngöbe in Bocas del Toro, or the Kuna of San Blas.

The next morning we boarded our small single-engine plane for our flight to San Blas, or Kuna Yala. The Kuna are quite isolated from Panamá City and the rest of the world. No roads enter Kuna Yala and the only way to get there is by plane or boat. Although our destination, the Carti group in San Blas, is only a half hour from Panamá City, its like stepping centuries back in time. From the airstrip in Carti we took a Kuna dugout to Carti Tupile, home of our hosts, the Vallez-Smith family. As in previous years the family greeted us with much joy and quickly made us feel at home. Home in this case was a typical Kuna thatch-roofed, cane-sided sand-floored hut. The kitchen consisted of a carefully tended fire on the floor with logs radiating from the center. There is no running water; water is brought from the river daily by dugout canoe. Fresh water is used for bathing, but not cooking. For cooking, Kuna always use coconut water which imparts a coconut flavor to the staple diet of fish and plantain. The family sleeps in hammocks as did some of us. We also pitched a couple of tents for those who wanted to sleep on the ground. The Kuna are a remarkable people, both in stature and customs which they hold to very tenaciously. The average height of the Kuna is only about four and a half feet tall. The women are most remarkable with their brightly-colored traditional dress. The costume consists of a colorful mola (intricate cloth tapestry) sewed onto bright blouses, a dark patterned skirt, and a bright red and yellow scarf worn over the head. The outfit is completed with beads, called "weenees" that cover the wrists, ankles and calves, gold ear and nose rings, and a black line drawn down the nose. This costume is not worn for tourists, but is the daily dress of all Kuna women.

Our first evening we all went down to the Congress House, the largest hut in the village. This house is where the Kuna chiefs come in the evenings to hear complaints, recommendations, etc. from the community, and to make decrees. It is required that we "present" ourselves to the chief so that he knows that we are in the village. We spent the first day and evening getting to know our Kuna hosts and their village. Some of us went for a sail in a intricately-carved and decorated traditional sailing dugout. We were very lucky arriving when we did because a festival had been planned for the next evening. The festivities consisted of traditional dances, music and theatrics. The students donated a bag of candy, some of which was periodically tossed to the children bringing about delighted screams as the kids made mad dashes for the loot.

We traveled widely during our stay in San Blas. One trip took us to Dog Island which was about two hours away by dugout. This small, coconut island is a stereotypical tropical island paradise with its white sandy beaches and crystal clear aquamarine water. There was a sunken boat 20 m off shore which, along with the surrounding reef, made for spectacular snorkeling. Not long after we landed, Kuna from nearby islands came over and set up displays of molas and other crafts which they hoped we would buy. On our way back from Dog Island we stopped at another village to buy more crafts and discovered an "aquarium" dug into the ground to attract tourists. Several marine animals had been placed in the aquarium including fish, starfish, sea cucumbers, and hawksbill sea turtles. Sea turtles are protected by Panamá, and holding them in pens is illegal. But in San Blas, the Kuna have the last word. Not wanting these endangered reptiles to spend their lives here, Katie Gogolin and Sandra Roig bought two of them. The Kuna here no doubt thought we were insane when it was explained that the turtles were bought so that they could be released! We got back into our dugout and after moving a half mile off shore, the turtles were, with much pomp and circumstance, returned to the sea.

There was always something to do here and we were sad to leave our newly acquired friends. Its amazing how many friends we made and how at home we felt in only four days.

SMITHSONIAN OPENS FIELD STATION IN BOCAS DEL TORO

NEW ITEC FIELD COURSES AND FACULTY FOR 1999-2000

WANT TO BEGIN THE NEW MILLENIUM ON A TROPICAL BEACH?

For the first time, ITEC will present courses at the Bocas del Toro Biological Station over winter break 1999-2000. Due to time constraints during the holiday break, these courses will be three weeks in length. Two courses will be offered. Dr. Joanna E. Lambert of Southwest Missouri University will present Primate Ecology. Dr. Lambert's course will focus on field exercises that teach fundamentals of conducting research on free ranging primates. Dr. Peter N. Lahanas will also present his Tropical Rainforest Ecology course during the Winter Session.

NEOTROPICAL HERPETOLOGY

TROPICAL PLANT ECOLOGY AND ETHNOBOTANY

ITEC TO OFFER FIRST COURSE IN SPANISH

Dr. Roper has broad experience with teaching field ecology courses. He taught Tropical Field Ecology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1992 to 1995 and during 1997-1998, as a member of a three-faculty team with the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) in Costa Rica. His teaching duties there included Fundamentals of Tropical Biology, Tropical Environmental Sciences and Methods of Research in Tropical Biology. Dr. Roper has also taught field ethology, conservation, biology, ornithology, introductory zoology and wildlife ecology.

Dr. Roper's primary research interest focuses on ornithology and in particular, nest predation and reproductive ecology. His research and education has taken him to 14 countries in Latin America, including Panamá, Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brasil.

RECENT DONATIONS ITEC would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to the following persons, companies and organizations for their donations. In alphabetical order: Mike Garner, Saginaw, Michigan - Two 10-person zodiacs, two outboard motors, paddles, patch kits, three hand radios, batteries and charger. Glanzer Press, Newberry, Florida - Kodak Carousel slide projector. Weber Motors, Fresno, California - Cost of repair and service to the ITEC bus, various field equipment including a tent, gas stove and tank, and metal storage box. Wells Creek Construction, Albany, Oregon - variety of mechanical tools (tool box, wrenches, sockets, etc.) and woodworking tools (electric drill, cordless drill, electric saber saw, chop saw, etc.). THANK YOU!!

ITEC Wish List Our organization is in need of a variety of office and field equipment for our Bocas del Toro Biological Station. Your tax deductible donation of new or used equipment would be greatly appreciated. We could use... Photocopy machine Boats and motors Microscopes Fax machine PC computer and printer Small mammal live-traps Dive equipment: (tanks, BC’s, regulators, snorkels, masks, weight belts, fins, air compressor) Gas generator Gas-operated refrigerator

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