I don't know what to do with my nights anymore!! The St Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network wrapped up its Leatherback nesting season this weekend. For the last couple of months I'd go out with this group from 8 pm - 4 am twice a week, in search of one of St. Kitts most fascinating creatures. We'd walk up and down the Keys beach (over a mile long!) looking for any sign of a sea turtle's emergence. Once we found a girl we would tag her and collect data on things such as carapace length and width, number of eggs laid, and location of nest. Blood samples would also be taken by Dr. Stewart (director of the network) for a study she is doing on hormone levels within the turtles.
On average for most nights we would see 2-3 girls, but in the beginning and here towards the end of the season we were lucky to even see one!! Even if we never saw a girl I still enjoyed spending my nights out there. We'd walk the length of the beach, and if we had no sign of a turtle, we'd sit for about 4o minutes or so. By 2 or 3 am I'd be napping during those stops, but early in the night I'd just be awake chatting with the other volunteers or staring up in the sky for glimpses of shooting stars. So take note those of you who want to visit... if you come between April and July to this tiny island of mine, be sure to make it out onto the beach with us.
As for what to do with myself now that I have more free time... camps!!! I have a camp this week based around an environmental theme, then the following week is the sports camp. Then after that is the sea turtle camp with the SKSTMN. I am also still working at the Heritage Society. I had a meeting with Kate Orchard, the Environmental Coordinator for the SCHS yesterday. We were looking at writing a proposal for projects with the SCHS and Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. It would include creating a flora and fauna display at Brimstone Hill, along with an herb garden, and purchasing additional supplies to work on the herbarium located at SCHS. If we can get it approved before the end of this month I can hopefully be working on it come August, and subsequently be real busy for my last year here on the island. Yay!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment