Aquí estan las Tortugas!

Hola!

This week was our first camping trip, a turtle monitoring trip to Banderitas, an estero north of Puerto San Carlos in Bahía Magdalena. (An estero is like an estuary, but without a freshwater input.) Half the group took the boats to the campsite; I rode in the van, though only half of our route had a road. Off-roading in a 15 passenger van loaded with camping gear is quite an experience, though not for those with weak stomachs...

Our campsite was beautiful, on the dunes, perched above the ocean; the desert reached down to the water, with only a narrow band of mangroves acting as a transition zone.

Sea turtles, as you may remember from Finding Nemo, live a very long time (>100 years!) Age is determined based on carapace (shell) length, and they're not considered adults until they have reached about 75 cm (about 2.5 feet). At a growth rate of ~2 cm/ year, turtles do not reach maturity until they are in their 30's. As juveniles, they live in bays like Bahía Magdalena and feed on sea grasses and algae for 20-30 years. For years, SFS has been monitoring the sea turtle population in the area, working with other organizations and research institutions in Baja to gather as much data as possible for the species. The more we know, the better we will be able to protect the species and their habitat, which is threatened by by-catch in fisheries (see post about J. Nichols' work with Grupo Turtugero) and illegal poaching.

In order to monitor the turtles, we set up nets to catch them. We then measure, weigh, and take a small skin sample from them, note any identifying characteristics, and photograph them before tagging their back flippers with a small metal tag containing a unique number. Tagging allows us to measure turtle growth over time and see how long the turtles stay in the bay. The tags go through the back flippers, and are no more intrusive or painful than an ear piercing. Basically, they are a piercing. Often, SFS will also be given the tags of turtles that have been killed, which is sad but also gives us information about the turtles.  On this trip, the nets were set up for 12 hours--from 6-ish pm to 6:30ish am, and checked every two hours to make sure that the turtles don't drown or hurt themselves.  In small, sleepy groups, we left camp for 4 hour shifts throughout the night: from 8-midnight, midnight-4am, and 4-6:30am.

Though the hours sound grueling, the monitoring shifts were a lot of fun. My first shift was 8-midnight on the first night. The 4 of us on that shift tore ourselves away from the warmth of the campfire and an upcoming game of mafia, the taste of s'mores still fresh on our taste buds, and boarded one of the boats with one of our professors, a research intern, and a panguero, the local boat drivers who work for SFS and know the area incredibly well.  Chilaco, the panguero, guided the boat slowly in the dark as we sat there, excited. Two nets were set up across the estero, and we pulled them in, slowly and carefully, as soon as we found them. In the first two hours they had been up, the first net only caught 2 sting rays. The first fell out of the net with a little help from Chilaco, but the second was much more tangled, and needed to be cut out of the net. We had to put him in the bottom of the boat until the nets were pulled in so that he wouldn't get hurt or hurt any of us. It was tough to watch, but he ended up being OK.

The next net was more successful--we caught our first 2 turtles! We pulled them out of the water and put them at the bottom of the boat, between the bench seats. Once our turtles were safely in the boat, the ray released, and the nets reset, we had an hour and a half to spend in the boats before we could check the nets again. As it was only 9:00, none of us were tired, and we spent the hour talking about bio, ecology, turtles, and other less dorky things. We looked at the stars, which were as clear as I've ever seen them, we found the big dipper and made up our own constellations. At some point we designated the boat the "Spanish panga"--the first person who spoke English was going to be thrown overboard. It was fun, relaxing, and exciting. The two turtles sleeping and occasionally moving around in the bottom of the boat were a constant reminder of what were out there to do.

The second check brought one more turtle, and we hung out some more until the next group came for the 12-4 shift. The bow of the boat is a very comfortable place to nap. The next morning, we got up to measure the 5 turtles that had been captured overnight. Working with the turtles was amazing. I've seen turtles before, but the closest I'd ever gotten before (aside from Myrtle the Turtle at the Aquarium) was when Rebecca and I followed one around Salt Pond Bay on St. John at some point during high school. Up close, they're beautiful and SO cool to work with.

After they were measured, tagged, and photographed, it was time to release them. This was the moment we'd all been waiting for, the moment we'd been told we'd get to ride the turtles! There were 5 turtles and 16 eager students, so a lottery was held to see who got to release these 5. To my surprise, I was one of the 5 winners! We scrambled into our bathing suits and ran down to the beach to choose our turtles. We each carried our turtle into the water. The sand sloped down steeply, so the water got deep only a few feet off the beach. As soon as the turtles realized that they were back in the water and were free to go, they took off, their powerful flippers pulling them away from us. All we had to do was hold on, and they pulled us for a few exhilarating feet. Yeah, it was short, but have YOU ever ridden a turtle?

The next night, I was one of 4 to volunteer for the 4am-6:30am shift. Three of us who were on that shift sat by the campfire until 12:30, talking to some students from a university in La Paz, an Ecuadorian born in the Galapagos, and a guy from Columbia, both working on turtle research and conservation as well, then pulled ourselves out of bed at 3:30 to get in the boats. The second shift was as amazing as the first--1 ray, 1 turtle, 1 beautiful sunrise. We got back to camp with half an hour before everyone else woke up, so we walked down the beach, got first dibs on the cereal, and enjoyed the cool, fresh, morning air. The next 5 turtles were as wonderful to work with as the first. We let them release themselves, pulling themselves slowly down the beach with their front flippers until they hit the water. Once they were submerged in the water, their natural grace came through and they flew off through the water, free, with only small silver tags to show for their experiences.

Check out the Picasa album for photos of the whole trip, including lots of turtles and class/a walk through the desert. I also took a series of photos of the turtles who released themselves, which if you scroll through fast enough kind of looks like a flip book. It's towards the end of the album if you want to see it.  It's pretty sweet. http://picasaweb.google.com/Emma.RachelKanji/BanderitasCampingTripSeaTurtles#

Amor y Abrazos! (love and hugs)

~Emma

P.S. I banned myself from facebook until I decide to unban myself. I'm still on skype all the time and have to check my e-mail for school stuff. I still want to hear from everyone, but I'm going to see if I can do it without facebook. At least until there are interesting pictures that I need to tag people in...