Sorry I have not been able to write for several days even though some exciting events have occurred! My computer is busted and won't let me start it up 85% of the time. When I can get it going I have 15 min before it shuts itself down.
Last Saturday I was walking back from Kike's with the kids (Rachie and Kevin) and saw a juvie (what we refer to juvenile iguanas as). Needless to say, Kevin and I spent 1hr trying to catch this one little guy with some makeshift grass nooses. I got the noose around him 11 times, but twice he broke my noose and the rest of the times he slithered right through it and I can't even explain how. He was just very curious and kept looking at us and trying to eat the noose. Anyhow, the kids and I went back out 15 min later with the real nooses (still made from grass but stronger) and within 45 we caught 2. Well, they each caught one while I was attempting to make a noose...not bad for a day off.
Here I am releasing the little guy I spent an hour chasing (#10)
After that I had to go take nest temperatures, but the reader broke and I spent an hour trying to fix it. Instead I decided to just go ahead and go on the morning walk which had been delayed until temperature time because we spent the morning reforesting Playa Carbon with some little (boy/girl) scouts from town. I asked Kevin if he wanted to come with, and he was bored so he agreed to take the 2900m walk with me to look for nests from the previous night. No sooner had I started complaining about how I never get turtles when I patrol with Kevin (and he was to be patrolling with me that night) that a ridley walked out of the water right in front of us and charged up the beach. Kevin volunteered to run all the way back to the house (1600m) and get Tera so she could come with the patrol bag and cameras. The turtles was on egg 57 when Tera caught up with us, and we were able to collect all the samples. She laid 104 eggs and it was incredible to see the whole thing during the day, not to mention it was a million times easier to collect data.
The eggs in the nest (and a tiny bit of fluid I'm sampling).
Holding a thermocouple in place while she buries the eggs. Thanks for the shot Kevin!
So beautiful, and heading back to the sea.
Classic! So excited about this shot.
Some overly enthusiastic biologists and an exhausted Kevin after a 2mi beach run, but a daytime turtle was worth it!
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