EcoTech Response 3 – ElizaB + LiwenC + ElizabethD

• Project Title, creator/artists, date, location

InvestEGGator Sea Turtle Eggs, created by Paso Pacifico, Central America

• Brief Description

Paso Pacifico is a conservation group based in Nicaragua who designed a decoy turtle egg concept aimed to combat illegal trade in sea turtle eggs across national borders. These artificial eggs are created using silicone material to allow for a realistic appearance and also equipped with GPS devices connected to a cellular network to track their locations.

• Visuals

• What are the key questions/issues the project is addressing?

The key issue that the project is addressing is the issue of sea turtle eggs being poached in Central America.

• Why are these important questions/issues?

This issue is important because sea turtles are endangered animals, and it is estimated that poachers destroy approximately 90 percent of sea turtle nests in Central America in order to sell the eggs on the illegal wildlife trade.

• How does the projects address the questions/issues? In their words, what does the project add to human culture? How does it contribute to human meaning? community? ecosystems?

By creating these prototypes that would essentially lead to the arrests and stings of illegal poachers, this specific conservation group establishes the notion that these actions that people are commiting for no reason other than to make money are actions that is harming the livelihood of this specific group of animals. Paso Pacifico strives to protect sea turtle nesting, among other projects, to help lessen the presence of wildlife traders and wildlife criminal activity.

• Which ecological issues does the project raise/solve?

The ecological issues that the project raises is the issue of poaching sea turtle eggs in Central America.  It is estimated that about 90 percent of the sea turtle nests are destroyed by poachers looking to sell the eggs on the illegal wildlife trade.

• Does the project respond superficially (it just raises the issue for us to think about) vs deeply (it pushes us to engage with the issue and/or take action).

The project responds deeply.  It was created with the intention of helping to solve the issue.  The eggs’ locations are tracked, allowing authorities to locate the poachers as well as people that buy from them.

• What design decisions were used to support the project intention? Does the design fit the concept?

The researchers at Paso Pacifico decided to design the eggs so that they mimic the looks and feels of real sea turtle eggs, which are soft to the touch and not brittle like birds eggs.(“The researchers worked with Hollywood special effects experts to get the details just right”.) The designs fit the concept of the project because it tries to recreate what actual sea turtle eggs feels like.

• What kind of technology does the project use? Does the technology support the intent or does it create tension with the intent?

This project uses 3d printing and GPS – GSM technology, to recreate and feel of actual sea turtle eggs, and the GPS technology is incorporated so that the researchers will be able to keep track of the movement of these eggs.(“The egg’s ability to ping its location is limited by the availability of cellular networks, but those are expanding so the researchers don’t see that as a major drawback.”) It supports the intent of the project, with its main purpose of trying to keep the eggs safe.

QUOTES

INTELLIGENT DESIGN

“To comprehend the ecology of a river and the human systems that impact it requires ecological intelligence emerging across the conventional boundaries of disciplines.”

HIPPOCRATIC OATH FOR DESIGNERS

“Looking back on our time from a century or two hence, from the other side of the bottleneck, our descendants will see those small beginnings, perhaps unnoticed by us, that altered the human prospect for the better.”

ECOLITERACY ARTICLE

Link to article: https://www.ecoliteracy.org/download/ecological-intelligence-teachers-guide

“Ecological intelligence allows us to comprehend systems in all their complexity, as well as the interplay between the natural and man-made worlds. But that understanding demands a vast store of knowledge, one so huge that no single brain can store it all. Each one of us needs the help of others to navigate the complexities of ecological intelligence. We need to collaborate.”

Link to article: https://www.ecoliteracy.org/article/dolphins-young-people-and-unintended-consequences-conversation-biologist-dave-phillips

” I realized that’s what I wanted to do: not just study conservation, but do something about it. ”

Link: https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/decoy-sea-turtle-eggs-help-track-down-poachers.html