Helps to find fake egg hunters with GPS – Wel.nl

Many species of sea turtles in Central America are endangered. One of the main reasons for this is that their eggs are stolen from the beach. Laying fake eggs with GPS chip provides additional insight into the prohibited trade.

Scientist Kim Williams-Guillén is concerned with nature conservation. She came up with the idea of ​​designing fake eggs out of a certain type of flexible plastic called ninjaflex and putting a GPS tracker in it. He won the Wildlife Crime Technology Challenge with his idea and $ 10,000 prize.

Williams-Gillan, along with a team of colleagues from different countries, created 3D-printed InvestEGGator eggs and laid 101 eggs overnight between real eggs in the sand on four beaches off the coast of Costa Rica.

Sea turtle eggs are considered a local delicacy and a delicacy. A total of 25 fake eggs were stolen and 6 of them were immediately identified and dumped on the beach. The long-distance egg came 137 kilometers inland near a supermarket.

The egg was probably sold to someone who went door-to-door with it. The last signal came from a house in the area, which visualized the entire chain.

Not to catch local hunters, but to identify bigger players. Ultimately, the aim is to create more intelligence among the local population so that sea turtles are no longer threatened.