Ricardo Tapilatu

Rick Tapilatu is the head of the Research Center for Pacific Marine Resources at the University of Papua (UNIPA), Manokwari – Papua Barat Indonesia. With his colleagues, he leads the center to understand and conserve the ocean life throughout the Bird’s Head Seascape, the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. He is also a faculty member in UNIPA’s Marine Science and Fisheries Departments, where he teaches Marine Biology, Ecology, and Conservation for the undergraduate program, and also Natural and Environmental Resources Management and Marine Biodiversity for the postgraduate program. Rick is also a 2018 Pew Marine Fellow (PMF) in Marine Conservation and a co-Regional Vice Chair for the Australasian IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG).

MY OCEAN STORY

To Rick, the ocean has been a playground and the focus of his life career. Born in Manokwari and growing up in multiple coastal cities in Papua, he has always enjoyed the sea as well as exploring sea creatures, as such the sea and all marine life has become an inseparable part of Rick’s life. People say true love lasts forever. For Rick, his true love is the sea turtle, especially the leatherback sea turtle. This native-born Papuan is happy spending nights taking care of turtles while they lay their eggs on the nesting beach, measuring the size of the female turtles or checking their nests until the hatchlings emerge. “I’ve been doing these activities for almost twenty years and I’ve never found myself getting bored.I’ve slept on the beach after working with the turtles all night. I’ve woken up in the morning with the sun shining and the birds singing. It’s always a pristine experience”.

My Ocean Pride

“Because my life has been very close to the ocean, to me the ocean is an essential part of our life. A healthy ocean means life is better for everyone on the planet. Because of that I’m very excited to get involved in a program to maintain the health of the sea and work towards the sustainable use of the sea’s resources and all its wonders within”.