Changing Seas

Ariel: Surfing is a very unique sport because you're connected directly with nature, and it is like yourself and the ocean.

Branden: Surfers are very in-tune.

We pay attention to the winds, to the tides.

We basically live our lives around the elements.

Narrator: From beach breaks to remote coasts, surfers around the world have long been committed to protecting the waves that shape their lives.

Diego: Surfers are an undervalued asset in conservation.

You know, whether it's sea-level rise, whether it's pollution, whether it's water quality, surfers are really the canaries in the coal mine.

Narrator: Supporting the surfing community is the Save the Waves Coalition, an international non-profit dedicated to the protection of surf breaks and surf ecosystems.

Diego: We work very closely with local partners.

And when we're invited to a place, we collaborate in whichever way we can to support that community's goals.

Narrator: To assist local efforts, Save the Waves built the Surf Conservation Index to identify surf breaks where biodiversity, threats, and potential for change intersect.

They're also working with local communities to create World Surfing Reserves, a non-binding recognition that empowers these communities to create lasting protections.

Diego: When Save the Waves declares a World Surfing Reserve, it forms a Local Stewardship Council, which is that community that got together and applied to become a World Surfing Reserve because they understand that this surf ecosystem needs protection.

Narrator: Since 2010, Save the Waves has designated 13 World Surfing Reserves-- from Australia to Peru to Portugal.

In 2022, the 7-kilometer surf break at Playa Hermosa in Costa Rica became the first reserve in Central America.

Playa Hermosa is celebrated not only for its epic surf breaks and consistent swells, but also for its vital ecosystems, which include estuaries and mangroves.

Rich in biodiversity, it is home to 61 threatened species, among them the iconic scarlet macaw.

By day, its warm waters are a sanctuary for surfers and crocodiles alike, while by night, it transforms into a nesting ground for three endangered species of sea turtles.

The local surfing community began protecting small sections of beach in the 1990s.

More recently, sustainability advocate and surfer Laura Zumbado recognized the need to expand these protections for Playa Hermosa's cherished surf ecosystem.

Laura: Each World Surfing Reserve has different threats.

Here in Playa Hermosa, our biggest threat is the unsustainable development and urban growth that threaten the natural ecosystems and services.

[Children shouting] Laura: If we really want to live in a place that holds these values, and especially surf values, we really need to develop in a sustainable way.

Diego: What this World Surf Reserve does, is that it really creates consciousness, and I think that with that comes the responsibility, since we got it, to take it to the next level.

[Indistinct shouting] Narrator: How will the community unite to protect this fragile surf ecosystem?

And what challenges lie ahead in safeguarding Playa Hermosa's powerful waves for generations to come?

[Theme music playing] Announcer: Major funding for this program was provided by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people to preserve and protect America's underwater resources.

Additional funding was provided by the Parrot Family Endowment for Environmental Education.

Narrator: Nestled along Costa Rica's Pacific coast, the beach break at Playa Hermosa draws in only the bravest of surfers.

As breathtaking as it is formidable, this world-renowned wave captures the heart of everyone who dares to ride it.

Anyone who comes to the Central Pacific area of Costa Rica will come surf Playa Hermosa.

It's--you know, it's kind of a surfer's rite of passage.

Surfer: Ha ha!

Branden: It's just a paradise for surfers.

People travel here from all over the world to surf.

It has waves every single day of good to epic conditions.

The entire Pacific propagates swell in this little corner here year-round.

Alejandro: We have waves, tons of waves, thousands of waves, every day.

And that brings people from all around the world to try the wave and to see if they have the skills to surf it.

Narrator: Known as Costa Rica's "National Surf Stadium," Playa Hermosa hosts world-class surf competitions and is a hub where Olympic athletes and aspiring pros hone their craft.

Daniel: Playa Hermosa is probably the most important wave in Costa Rica.

It's our training ground and what will take Costa Rican surfing to another level.

Playa Hermosa is a very, very powerful beach break.

It's super-strong, and the waves have these amazing characteristics, like some are super-tubular, some are super-fast and steep, so this is mainly for advanced or pro surfers.

Isabella: Las pequeas son muy difciles de manejar.

Las grandes son un poquito difciles tambin, porque son un poquito ms grandes.

Las medianas son perfectas.

Narrator: This consistent and challenging surf break has also become the training ground for the next generation of Costa Rican surfers.

Branden: The kids here that surf are at an amazing level, and they're all progressing very fast.

And it's creating a community of kids here that are just incredible surfers.

Ariel: You see new people coming, new young people starting, and it's very exciting to see what the future is.

Narrator: Surfing is also vital to local livelihoods.

Hotels, restaurants, shops, and surf instructors all rely on the wave of income brought in by Playa Hermosa's swell.

To measure this impact, Save the Waves developed "surfonomics" to quantify the economic value of the surf break.

It's really a tool that allows us to explain to government and other stakeholders the value of this wave in economic terms.

Because of that wave, that money's coming in.

If that wave wasn't there, that money wouldn't come in.

Narrator: A 2021 surfonomics study showed that this small town of about 1,000 residents hosts 15,000 surf visitors each year.

Those visitors bring over $14 million in revenue, making Playa Hermosa's world-class surf break a crucial source of income for the local community.

Diego: So it's a really big part of the economy.

Everyone relies on this wave, not only for the economy, but all these other benefits that it brings.

Narrator: Among those benefits is the intangible Costa Rican spirit of "Pura Vida."

Catching a wave is simply a way of life.

Diego: The surf break here in Playa Hermosa is key to the community.

You know, when the waves are good, you feel it in the air.

The whole community's happy.

Everyone's super-stoked to be out there.

We depend on surf, we live surf, and it's completely embedded into the lifestyle of this community.

Narrator: The vital importance of Playa Hermosa's waves has been clear to the community for decades.

Early protections eventually expanded into the Playa Hermosa-Punta Mala National Wildlife Refuge, safeguarding most of the beach and the coastal mangroves.

Now, the World Surfing Reserve plays a crucial role in advocating for broader protections of essential elements of the surf ecosystem.

Laura: The World Surfing Reserve limits are shaped by the rivers and their watersheds.

It's key to have healthy rivers, to have healthy surf spots.

Diego: The surf ecosystem is really that land-to-sea connection.

Everything you do on land affects the nearshore environment where that wave exists.

So, here in Playa Hermosa, the water flows down these mountains, brings all the sediment, and then creates the sandbars that then create those waves.

Narrator: Sandbars are crucial for surfers because they allow waves to break farther from the shore, creating a clean, open face perfect for riding.

Without these sandbars, waves break directly on the beach, leading to increased shoreline erosion.

The Tulin River carries the sediment that forms the sandbar and also nourishes the mangroves at its mouth.

These natural barriers provide habitat for crocodiles, local birds, and other wildlife, and further protect the shoreline from erosion.

Laura: This mangrove is really a survivor.

It's a small batch of mangrove, but it's very threatened because of agricultural activities and urban development, and it's key for us to protect it and to regenerate it.

Narrator: Another crucial element of the surf ecosystem is the wetlands along Playa Hermosa.

In areas where these wetlands have already been altered, faster-running water is now eroding sections of the beach, making it unusable for both surfers and wildlife.

Diego: Here in Playa Hermosa, the surf ecosystem is highly influenced by water, and whatever you do to water movement in this area, whatever changes in any of these catchments will ultimately impact the wave.

Even when it rains really hard, it'll hold off from eroding that coastline or that part of the beach.

But as you develop, as you channel some of that water, and those wetlands get destroyed, you start to see the water flow much faster.

Laura: We really need to think about, "OK, "the water inland matters, "because if it comes in different quantity "and quality than it naturally comes, it will affect our surf quality."

And we are damaging that balance with our current level of development.

Narrator: As more of Playa Hermosa is built up, members of the Reserve's Local Stewardship Council are increasingly concerned about how this growth will unfold.

What we really aim in the World Surfing Reserve is to have a different vision of how we can grow in a sustainable way.

We really want smart, climate-ready investments to happen here in Playa Hermosa.

It's because it also makes economical sense.

Alejandro: So, the idea is trying to...get together with the developers to do a right developing of the area.

A sustainable development first understands the characteristics of the place, the character, the essence, what makes it so unique, not only for us humans, also for other species.

Narrator: While surfers try to balance their needs with developers by day, a threatened species relies on Playa Hermosa's beach by night.

Each year, thousands of Olive Ridley turtles return to these shores to lay their nests under the cover of darkness.

Las tortugas se utilizan como especie sombrilla, son indicadores para determinar y ayudar al ecosistema.

La lora es una especie que est en peligro de extincin, es vulnerable, y por lo tanto, la debemos de trabajar.

Narrator: At the Playa Hermosa-Punta Mala Wildlife Refuge, park rangers collaborate with trained volunteers during turtle nesting season to monitor the beaches of Playa Hermosa and Punta Mala.

La importancia de la playa es esencial en el ciclo de reproduccin, porque es la zona donde la tortuga viene a nacer.

Todas las tortugas regresan a esas playas.

Narrator: In Playa Hermosa, Olive Ridleys are solitary nesters.

A lone female will crawl to the upper beach in the early morning hours and lay nearly 100 eggs in a single nest.

After securing the nest by patting it down, she will leave her eggs to incubate deep in the sand before slipping silently into the dark sea.

As part of the conservation process, when rangers or trained volunteers find a newly-laid nest, they carefully collect the eggs to protect them from wild predators, as well as human poachers, who sell them as a delicacy.

It's estimated that only one in 1,000 eggs will produce a turtle that reaches sexual maturity.

With such odds, every hatchling must be protected.

The collected eggs are then transported directly to the hatchery at Punta Mala Wildlife Refuge.

With the monitoring process, with the volunteers, we always aim to take as many nests as possible.

Last year, approximately 30% of the nests were stolen for food, 30% were eaten by other animals, and we took approximately 9%.

Hace que sea esencial el traer el nido al vivero para que aqu la tortuga tenga una oportunidad de nacer y podamos hacer que regrese.

Si lo dejamos en la playa, esa tasa de nacimiento caera mucho.

El vivero se vuelve una herramienta de conservacin.

Narrator: At the hatchery, the eggs are carefully reburied.

Every effort is made to replicate the natural conditions of the original nest, including depth and shape; sand consistency; and moisture levels-- to provide the best chance for survival.

To monitor hatching rates and threats like poaching, predation, beach erosion, and pollution, rangers and volunteers conduct yearly National Protocol surveys.

At dawn during nesting season, they patrol the beaches, documenting nest locations, turtle tracks, and any signs of disturbance or poaching.

The Protocol, we started in 2022, so we have already three years of data, because the idea is to compare season after season.

But we need to compare with another season because, with sea turtles, they are, like, a long-term study because they live long lives.

So, we need at least a base of five to ten years to see if it's the normal tendency of the population, or if it's caused by the human impact.

Narrator: Rangers can clearly assess threats from illegal poaching and predation by local animals like coatis, raccoons, and possums, but these are not the only dangers to the viability of nests on the beach.

So, in Hermosa, you face another challenge like development that already exists and the development that is coming.

So, there's a lot of noise in the future, light pollution.

There's cars all the time coming and going.

There's many factors that affect the turtles.

Narrator: Back at the hatchery, nests that have been carefully monitored during their 45- to 60-day incubation are opened to remove the successful hatchlings.

The baby turtles are then released at the exact spot on the beach where the eggs were originally collected.

Este proceso es sumamente importante para las tortugas en esa etapa, porque es es el momento en el que las tortugas, verdad?

Como que marcan en su GPS interno, verdad?

El lugar de donde ellas estn naciendo.

Si nosotros no hacemos este proceso, bien, ellas no pueden marcar su GPS interno.

Y entonces no podrn volver a nuestras playas, verdad?

Costarricense para depositar sus huevos.

Creo que la tortuga es una especie que enamora, enamora porque la pods ver cuando llega, cuando pone el huevo y usted trabaja con eso, usted lo planta, usted se vuelve una mam tortuga.

Usted al final termina siendo tambin una tortuga.

Y cuando esas tortugas nacen, son como tus hijos.

Entonces ese afecto que genera este proceso es cautivador.

Es muy importante y ver a futuro dentro de 12 15 aos regresar tortugas, y que tal vez pienses, "esta tortuga yo la vi nacer."

Narrator: While the World Surfing Reserve's Local Stewardship Council works to expand the wildlife refuge and establish legally enforceable protections, it also focuses on community-driven projects aimed at preserving the ecosystem wherever possible.

One such effort is the restoration of the coastal forests that once lined this surf break, providing shade for surfers and habitat for scarlet macaws.

Daniel: Coastal forests are actually very important to surfing, especially these places that are beach breaks because they control erosion, so they stabilize the sand dunes, and the quality of the waves are determined by those sand dunes.

So, if we have no forest and there's a lot of erosion, we're probably going to lose the quality of the wave.

Narrator: Local Stewardship Council member Daniel Uribe is the founder of Costas Verdes, a non-profit dedicated to reforesting coastal ecosystems.

Since 2009, his team has planted nearly 100,000 tree starts along Costa Rican beaches.

Now, Costas Verdes has partnered with the World Surfing Reserve to restore the micro-watershed at the north end of Playa Hermosa, a more commercial area outside the wildlife refuge.

Laura: We chose to work in this micro-watershed because it's the last patch of forest that connects the ocean with these Playa Hermosa mountains, and it's this last bit of how Playa Hermosa was.

So, we chose this as a model of how we can regenerate Playa Hermosa and to bring people in contact with nature.

[Indistinct shouting] Narrator: Another partner in restoring this watershed is the Surf Dojo, which recently gave young surfers the opportunity to plant native trees at the site.

Branden: In ten years or twenty years, they're going to be able to go in there and show their kids, "You know, look at the trees we planted, and look at this place now."

You know, and that's what we want to create, are environmental stewards who actually have done the work and who have gotten their hands dirty and understand that what they do is important.

Daniel: So, all the trees that have been planted there have been planted by the local schools, by local businesses, visitors, and it's been a successful project, right?

They've seen it grow, and I think that if anybody threatens it, they're the first ones who are going to protect it.

So, it's caused a lot of community pride and unity.

[Indistinct chatter] Narrator: Playa Hermosa's next generation is also participating in turtle conservation through events hosted by the Wildlife Refuge, including releases of newly hatched turtles.

La gente, el ver el asombro de la gente cuando los nios y las comunidades.

Vas a liberar las tortugas y ellos pueden participar, y ver esas tortugas caminar en la playa, y eso me llena de orgullo.

Y ver a los nios ponerles nombre, decir, todas estas cosas es sper cautivador.

Es muy importante.

Esto es algo que nosotros hacemos ahora, pero no lo vemos ahora.

O sea, lo vamos a ver dentro de muchos aos.

Entonces mi esperanza sera poder lograr ver eso, poder lograr saber qu el esfuerzo que estamos haciendo ahora tiene futuro.

Narrator: These combined efforts represent the first glimpse of a larger vision for the World Surfing Reserve and the surf ecosystem it seeks to protect, a sanctuary where future generations of surfers and turtles can continue to return to the beach they love.

Diego: It's really important that people integrate this vision of surf ecosystem.

It's not just the wave, but it's everything inland.

It's everything at the beach.

It's the constant changes that we're seeing through climate change, sea-level rise, erosion.

All of that is going to factor in when you consider how is this wave going to change in time and how we should manage it into the future.

It has been really amazing to be part of this huge coalition and to make Playa Hermosa part of this family of World Surfing Reserves-- people that truly believe in what they do and do it with a purpose.

People that are hopeful about a better future.

[Children clamoring] Announcer: Major funding for this program was provided by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people to preserve and protect America's underwater resources.

Additional funding was provided by the Parrot Family Endowment for Environmental Education.