Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
This Critically Endangered hawksbill sea turtle arrived into our care incredibly weak, and sadly, despite everything we could do for him, he didn’t make it.
He had been found on San Juanillo Beach and was brought to us by SINAC, and when he arrived it was clear he was in a very fragile state. Our veterinary team immediately gave him fluids and placed him in a bath, doing everything possible to stabilize him through the night, but sadly, he passed away the following morning.
We wish every rescue story had a happy ending, but this is the reality of wildlife rescue. Sometimes an animal reaches us when they are simply too weak, too sick, or too badly injured to recover, and however difficult those losses are, we will always give them every possible chance.
And when the animal in front of you belongs to a Critically Endangered species, every single life matters.
Hawksbill sea turtles face enormous pressure throughout their range, including entanglement and accidental capture in fishing gear, pollution and plastic in our oceans, boat strikes, and the loss or disturbance of the coastal habitats they depend on. Here in Nosara, Costa Rica, we’ve cared for a number of hawksbills over the years, and recently we were lucky enough to see one of those stories end very differently, when a turtle was strong enough to return to the ocean after a long recovery that included the amputation of one of its flippers.
That is why we keep going. Some animals recover and return to the wild, and heartbreakingly, some don’t, but every rescue gives us another opportunity to protect an individual animal and, in doing so, play our small part in conserving an extraordinary species that is fighting for its future.
Rest in peace, little one. We’re so sorry we couldn’t save you.
This Critically Endangered hawksbill sea turtle arrived into our care incredibly weak, and sadly, despite everything we could do for him, he didn’t make it.
He had been found on San Juanillo Beach and was brought to us by SINAC, and when he arrived it was clear he was in a very fragile state. Our veterinary team immediately gave him fluids and placed him in a bath, doing everything possible to stabilize him through the night, but sadly, he passed away the following morning.
We wish every rescue story had a happy ending, but this is the reality of wildlife rescue. Sometimes an animal reaches us when they are simply too weak, too sick, or too badly injured to recover, and however difficult those losses are, we will always give them every possible chance.
And when the animal in front of you belongs to a Critically Endangered species, every single life matters.
Hawksbill sea turtles face enormous pressure throughout their range, including entanglement and accidental capture in fishing gear, pollution and plastic in our oceans, boat strikes, and the loss or disturbance of the coastal habitats they depend on. Here in Nosara, Costa Rica, we’ve cared for a number of hawksbills over the years, and recently we were lucky enough to see one of those stories end very differently, when a turtle was strong enough to return to the ocean after a long recovery that included the amputation of one of its flippers.
That is why we keep going. Some animals recover and return to the wild, and heartbreakingly, some don’t, but every rescue gives us another opportunity to protect an individual animal and, in doing so, play our small part in conserving an extraordinary species that is fighting for its future.
Rest in peace, little one. We’re so sorry we couldn’t save you.
