In late July, working in the middle of the night, researchers began visiting beaches in Costa Rica with 3D-printed spheres–each roughly the size of a golf ball–designed to look like sea turtle eggs. They buried the decoy eggs in nests along with real eggs, covered their tracks on the beach, and waited. Inside each egg, a GPS device was ready to track the movements of poachers.

It was the first trial of a new system developed by the Nicaragua-based nonprofit Paso Pacifico, which works to protect biodiversity in Central America. Sea turtles are especially at risk from poaching; in Nicaragua, for example, more than 95% of turtle eggs laid on beaches are poached and eaten locally or shipped to cities, where they are sold in bars and restaurants as a delicacy and supposed aphrodisiac. The nonprofit works with community volunteers to protect a handful of beaches, but can’t work everywhere.

They turned to a 3D printer, which makes it fairly easy to replicate the shape of a sea turtle egg. With the help of a special effects artist from Hollywood, they perfected the right shade of paint and texture to make the egg look realistic. A lightweight GPS tracking device fits inside.

Read the full article by Adele Peters about turtle poachers from Fast Company