My Life with Sea Turtles

“A wonderful book that will appeal to anyone interested in the world around us.”
—DR. JANE GOODALL

Filled with reverence and wonder for the natural world, this captivating book reveals the secret life of sea turtles, one of the oldest living creatures on Earth, alongside one female scientist’s fight to save their future.

In 2015, a team of researchers carefully removed a plastic straw from a sea turtle’s nostril off the coast of Costa Rica. The disturbing incident, which was captured on video, went viral, leading to corporate straw bans around the world. In this evocative book, reminiscent of Jane Goodall’s memoir In the Shadow of Man, the marine biologist behind the camera, Christine Figgener, recounts her own life spent studying and protecting sea turtles.

From the time she was a young girl, Figgener was determined to become a biologist, and study the marvels of the marine world. In My Life With Sea Turtles, she shares how she went from a small, gray town on the edge of industry to the lush coastline of Costa Rica, where she fell in love with the local environment and its famous residents: the sea turtles.

Figgener describes patrolling the beach at night, swimming with turtles in the open ocean, watching tiny turtles emerge from sandy nests, and risking her life during tropical storms. We learn about her experience as a woman in conservation, a male dominated space where she struggles to be taken seriously. Through discovering the fascinating science of sea turtles and the threats they face today, readers will be inspired to live their own lives differently to ensure the survival of these magnificent creatures.

Christine Figgener was born in 1983 in Haltern am See and grew up in Germany's industrial Ruhr valley. After studying biology in Tübingen and Würzburg, she earned a PhD in marine biology from Texas A&M University. Christine has lived and worked in Costa Rica since 2007, researching sea turtles and fighting for their protection. Her video of the painful removal of a plastic straw from a sea turtle's nose went viral and catalyzed the global debate about single-use plastics that led to them being banned in many countries. For her science communication and outreach efforts, Time magazine honored her as a Next Generation Leader in 2018. She founded and leads COASTS (the Costa Rican Alliance for Sea Turtle Conservation and Science) and the consulting firm Namaka Conservation Science, both devoted to researching and conserving sea turtles.

"As long as I am breathing, I will try to make a difference." Christine Figgener, Time magazine