Sea turtle eggs are considered a delicacy in many places, which makes the nests a target for poachers. In Asian countries in particular, but also in Central America, the eggs are sold at markets, restaurants and bars.
Costa Rica: Using GPS fake eggs against egg thieves
In order to find out the smuggling routes of egg thieves, scientists have now produced fake eggs from a 3D printer and fitted them with GPS transmitters. They then placed the “fakeeggs“ with the real eggs in turtle nests on four beaches in Costa Rica.
A quarter of the fake eggs – laid in 101 turtle nests on beaches in Costa Rica – were stolen. Some eggs were successfully traced, from the thief to the retailer to the consumer.
“InvestEGGator” is the name of the tracking device – a mixture of egg and investigator. 32% of the attractants that remained in untouched nests failed because moisture penetrated the seals and damaged the transmitter.
Initial findings show that the eggs reappear not far from the beaches where they were stolen.
One of the fake eggs was located near a home, another traveled two kilometers to a bar, while the farthest one traveled 137 kilometers inland for two days.
In one case, GPS led the researchers from the University of Kent to the town of Cariari, 43 kilometers from the beach, after eleven days. After receiving pictures of a dissected egg, they were able to track where the egg was bought and how many were sold.
Not every fake egg was successful. Six fake eggs were found on the beach, indicating that they were quickly discovered and discarded by collectors.
In the future, the technology could also be used to monitor egg theft from crocodile and parrot nests and illegal trade in shark fins.