
Costa Rican authorities have launched an investigation after a mob of irresponsible tourists and locals prevented sea turtles from laying their eggs along the country’s Pacific coast.

Crowds swarmed the Ostional Wildlife Refuge, in northwestern Guanacaste, and disrupted the nesting ritual for a number of olive ridley sea turtles, which are listed as a vulnerable or threatened species.

As they gathered in the hundreds, the visitors stood in the turtles’ way as they swam ashore and even placed children on top of them to snap keepsake photos, causing many of the creatures to return to the sea without laying their eggs.

Costa Rican authorities have launched an investigation after a mob of holidaymakers prevented sea turtles from laying their eggs

Crowds of tourists swarmed the Ostional Wildlife Refuge, in northwestern Guanacaste, and disrupted the nesting ritual

As they gathered in the hundreds, the visitors stood in the turtles’ way as they swam ashore and even placed children on top of them

Costa Rica's government allows locals, through community co-operatives, to harvest eggs laid by the first wave of sea turtles

Other tourists touched the turtles, stood on top of their nests and snapped photos with flash cameras, according to the Union of Workers of the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

The union has blasted the tourists and said an investigation will take place to find out why the crowd was not held back over the weekend and how to control visitors in the future so not to interfere with the nesting.

Refuge administrator Carlos Hernandez said he had never seen that many people at the beach, and that some visitors had entered through unauthorised access points, The Tico Times reported.

Although the turtles arrive in large numbers almost every month, September and October are peak times, and tour operators have tried to cash in by offering additional tours to watch the turtles lay their eggs, the newspaper reported.

The tourists' actions caused many of the creatures to return to the sea without laying their eggs on a beach on the Pacific coast

Tourists were blasted for touching the turtles, standing on top of their nests and snapping photos with flash cameras

The report suggested park rangers were overwhelmed by the number of tourists and unable to control the massive crowd on the four-mile stretch of beach, with only two guards on duty as they received help from three national police officers.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, Ostional Wildlife Refuge is one of the two most important areas in the world for olive ridley sea turtle nesting.

Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles generally arrive once a month and remain for three to five days at the beach, the WWF said.

Refuge administrator Carlos Hernandez said he had never seen that many people at the beach, where the turtles nest regularly

Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles generally arrive once a month and remain for three to five days at the beach, the WWF said

The report suggested park rangers were overwhelmed by the number of tourists and unable to control the massive crowd

Ostional has been a protected area since 1982, and is the only place in the world where it is legal to harvest and sell sea turtle eggs

Ostional Wildlife Refuge has been a protected area since 1982, and it is the only place in the world where it is legal to harvest and sell sea turtle eggs, according to Costa Rican officials.

Authorities monitor the harvesting of eggs left behind by the first wave of turtles, with the government saying the first wave was often destroyed by turtles arriving later or by high tides.

Locals, through community co-operatives, are legally permitted to collect a percentage of the eggs from the first three days of each nesting period (known as an arribada) for sale or consumption.

Costa Rica’s government says the program, developed with scientists in the 1980s, has helped to increase the sea turtle population, and income from the sale of eggs has been used to pay the guards who patrol the beach and fund research.

Unlawful egg collecting still occurs, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the long-term collection of eggs and killing of adults on nesting beaches is the principal cause of the species' historical, worldwide decline.

The government agency said: 'Because arribadas concentrate females and nests in time and space, they allow for mass killing of adult females as well as the taking of an extraordinary number of eggs. These threats continue in some areas of the world today, compromising efforts to recover this species.'