Unhatched Ridley
Fungus growing on eggs
Happy to complete my first data set!
Turning sand over in the hatchery (don't let Jacob fool you, I dug 95% of that a meter deep!)
Baby seal from back home (just love this pic)
So much has taken place since the last time I have written a blog. It all started with my computer crashing while I was still in Costa Ric. Then too few turtles came to justify staying, so I got to go home for a whole month! I hear September is the peak of ridley season, so it seemed like an odd time to leave, but I'm not allowed on the beach by myself, and Tera was going home because 10months of turtling in such a small town is just too much! I have to say the break was very much needed and gave me a chance to get home, get a new computer, get a bunch of chores done, and see family and friends. Unfortunately, I arrived home sick and got sick again just a short time later, needless to say, home was not as productive as I would have liked, but it was home.
Trying to get back into Costa Rica was a mess. three of the 7 of us got stopped at the airport where they would not let us on a plane because we did not have documentation saying that we were leaving the country within the 90 days required to avoid needing visas...out of the 20 something years they have been patrolling the beach, this has never been an issue. Figures I would be the first person to run into this problem. I had to buy a refundable ticket back to the states for within the 90 days just to be able to leave the states. I met up with everyone 2 flights later in Atlanta where our plane promptly broke down and we didn't take off until what would have been our touch down time, but I made it. I don't know if it's good or bad, but the second I got here it was like I never left and the past month was just a dream...Obviously, not the case.
Our first night back all three types of turtles came up and nested and 2 nests hatched, however, we were all sleeping (or in my case just curled up in bed wide awake thinking about everything that must get done). The next night we had 2 turtles, one nested the other didn't, but I was able to work with both. I forgot how great it feels to work on turtles since it had been so long since I worked on one. Iit takes about 3 nights of patrolling with no turtles for the "turtle buzz" to wear off and you begin to question your presence on the beach. Two nights ago we had 3 ridleys, but due to the fact that only Tera and myself are trained/permitted to work with them, only 2 were sampled. We ran down the beach to catch the other turtle in time to collect some samples. This means that in the 3 days I was back I doubled the amount of samples taken all summer. One of the nests that hatched was one of the turtles I sampled in August. We excavated the nest and I was able to sample the unhatched eggs, thus completing my first full sample set!!! Only about 29 to go (I only need 19 more, but I'm aiming for 30). More importantly, I think I have gotten my hands on the rest of my materials, so maybe by next month I can start the lab work part of my project...or send my samples to the lab that will ID fungus for me for only $6-12 a sample...Yes, I'm highly considering this option so I can get done and then can focus on bacteria. But I'm cheap and getting samples there could be complicated, so probably not.
PS...I got everyone hooked on the Big Bang Theory
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