More Earthwatch Moments

Several of the Earthwatch volunteers, Esha, Maria, and Mike, posed with a model of a leatherback turtle before dinner. The volunteers are all fabulous people, and I've enjoyed getting to know each of them and their stories. Esha is an Engineering major at the University of Maryland, Maria is finishing her MBA at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Mike traveled all the way from England to participate in the expedition. The other volunteers include Claudia from Germany, Lydia from England, and Don from Los Angeles. All are intelligent, adventurous people, who have an interest in the environment and wanted to do something meaningful with their holiday.

Patrolling the beach at night can be taxing on one's body. Have any of you ever worn hiking boots and hiked on the beach for 8-10 miles? Sand finds its way into your boots and rubs your feet like sandpaper. After the first night, Maria and I were both in pain. The biologists recommended duct taping bandages to the blisters. We were desperate, so we taped.

Both of us confirm that this works! And our feet are much better now. Another use for duct tape!

Last night, I had hatchery duty. Several olive ridley eggs hatched in the hatchery the night before, and the biologists were hopeful for more. This nest had been relocated from another beach, where both tourists and lights prevailed. A local Costa Rican called the field station about the nest, and the biologists were happy to relocate it to the safer location of the hatchery.

My shift started at 6:00 p.m. No hatchling action occurred, so Rachel, the biologist with me, gave me an astronomy lesson. Jupiter sparkled, along with Pleiades (the 7 sister cluster). Orion's belt hovered above us. Never have I seen so many constellations at one time, as the lights from our cities back home cause us to miss this brilliant show each night. And, since the shift was 5 1/2 hours, it was fun to watch the rotation of the stars throughout the sky.

At approximately, 10:30 p.m. two beady eyes glistened in the dark. Racoons! They were looking for an easy meal. Supposedly they can smell the hatchlings before they emerge. In the dark, the eyes just stared. We called out, hoping to shoo them away, but no luck. Rachel, a lover of all animals, picked up a large stick and approached them, trying to scare them. No movement. The eyes just held still. Rachel moved closer. Still no movement. It was like the racoons were double-dog daring her to come and get them. Finally, Rachel darted towards them, and the racoons scampered away. These hatchlings are lucky to have an "armed" guard!

My shift ended at 11:30 p.m., and the next group took over. I was pleased to go and get some sleep,  and I did not envy the beach patrol groups that left at 10:30 p.m. to return at 4:30 a.m. Nonethess, I had another hatchery shift at 6:00 a.m. so off I went to sleep.

At dawn, not fully awake, I set out again for the hatchery. I looked at the nest and doubted that any more eggs would hatch. But, suddenly, I saw sand grains move. Was it an insect doing that? Or, could it really be a hatchling finding its way to the surface? I waited. And I waited. And I waited. The biologists have a lot of waiting to do. Finally, I saw a nose poke out of the sand. A hatchling!

After about 10 minutes, the hatchling's eyes emerged. This little guy must have been exhausted from tunneling its way up to the surface.  Finally, a flipper. Then another flipper. I marveled at the 2 inch olive ridley that arrived. I noted all the clacking of the birds. Were they hungry? Or were they just normally this loud? Fearing that a bird would swoop down and snatch my little hatchling right in front of me, I placed it in the bucket to take back to the field station. There, the biologist will take its measurements and release it later tonight.

Hello, Gorgeous!