Three Words

There are three words that truly define each of my kittens:

Viktor = Ooo! What’s That?

Naldo = Don’t Touch Me!

What three words would you use to describe your pet?

Tasks Performed

Hatchery Check

Each nest in the hatchery had to be checked every 20 minutes, all day every day 24/7, to make sure that all the little hatchlings were accounted for and that none escaped. That meant that every 20 minutes, somebody had to trek out to the hatchery and inspect each nest.

Temperature Gauges

They had 5 fake nests spaced out evenly along the beach, each with 4-5 temperature gauges buried in the nest at various depths. Every three days, somebody had to go out and record the temperatures at each site so they could get a feel for what was going on in the actual nests.

Beach Patrol

Each night, the beaches had to be patrolled for 6 hours: 3 hours before high tide to 3 hours after high tide. High tide changes each day of course, so the timing of it was different each day – but it was roughly from 7:00 pm to perhaps 2:00 am, give or take an hour or two. The beach was divided into three parts: N (North) S (South) and V (Ventana), each one being roughly 200 meters long. Two people were assigned to each section, and they would walk in one direction for 20 minutes – then rest for 20 minutes – then walk back to their starting point for 20 minutes and rest again, only to repeat as often as possible throughout the night.

Morning Sweep

This final sweep of the beach was conducted each morning from 5:00 to 7:00 and was designed to pick up anything that the night patrol may have missed. This time, two people walked the entire beach from one end to the far end and then back again.

Nesting Turtles

If the beach patrol happens upon a nesting turtle, then the fun begins. A turtle comes up out of the ocean, finds a spot to nest, digs her hole, lays her eggs, and then goes back into the ocean. Our job was to document the location of the nest, count the number of eggs laid, and get a tracker on the mother if she does not already have one. Counting the eggs means laying down right behind her with your face practically in her behind and operating the clicker as you watch the eggs pop out. And they come out fast, let me tell you! A turtle can lay as many as 115 eggs per nest – and she does that in maybe 3-5 minutes!

Triangulation

the biologists go back the nest sites the following day, after the turtle has gone back to the ocean, and triangulate an exact location on the beach. This gets recorded in their data books and helps them keep track of the beaches.

Excavations

Two days after a nest has hatched, the biologists dig up the nest to see what is left behind. If there are any little hatchlings still alive in there, they are placed in a bucket and taken to the Research Station to be weighed and measured and then released later that night. A count is taken of all the eggs hatched, all the eggs not hatched, and any hatchlings found that did not make it. Eggs that did not hatch are opened up to try and determine why they didn’t make it. All of this is recorded and then the nest with all the eggs is reburied so that the nutrients are recycled back into the ground.

Release Hatchlings

Each night, any hatchlings being held at the Research Station were taken down to the ocean and released into the sea. It was so rewarding to watch the little ones scurry out, on their way to hopefully one day return and lay their own eggs on that very beach!

The 3 Types of Turtles We Worked With

Leatherbacks               

species                  Dermochelys coriacea

in Spanish             Boulas

size                       4-8 feet

weight                   500-2,500 pounds

lifespan                 up to 50 years

nest depth            82.2 centimeters

# of nests             7-11 per season, every 2-4 years

# of eggs              65-115 per nest

gestation               55-60 days

status                    Critically Endangered

diet                       jelly fish

trivia                      can dive down 4,100 feet

                  

Green Turtles               

species                  Chelonia mydas

in Spanish             Negras

size                       32-48 inches

weight                   144-450 pounds

lifespan                 up to 80 years

nest depth            68.1 centimeters

# of nests             1-9 per season, every 2-3 years

# of eggs              up to 115 per nest

gestation               60 days

status                    Endangered

diet                       sea grasses and algae

trivia                      are smaller and black in Costa Rica, due to their diet

                  

Olive-Ridleys               

species                  Lepidochelys olivacea

in Spanish             Laras

size                       22-30 inches

weight                   85-95 pounds

lifespan                 up to 50 years

nest depth            47.3 centimeters

# of nests             1-3 per season, every 2-3 years

# of eggs              90-110 per nest

gestation               45-51 days

status                    Vulnerable

diet                       crabs, jellies, clams,

trivia                      arribadas: up to 200,000 nesting females at one time

Cast of Characters

There’s this thing I do sometimes: when I meet new people, I try to think of famous actors who would play their parts if a movie were to be made of that particular event.

So here’s what I’ve come up with for the scientists I worked with down in Costa Rica:

For Adam, the station manager, it would have to be Stanley Tucci from the series called Fortitude. Not just because both are good looking bald men – but because I think both have the same quiet strength to them. And if you haven’t seen that series: oh my god – it’s totally binge-worthy!

Cory, the assistant station manager, was easy – for him it would definitely be Jeff Bridges from The Big Lebowski. Both are laid back, easy going and fun to be around. Cory might be a little bit taller (he’s 6’-4”) though.

Alison gets to have ScarlettJohansson play her, as seen in We Bought a Zoo. Both are very cute (one might even say they’re sexy) and even though they’re young, both are very passionate about what they do.

SigourneyWeaver, from the first Alien movie, gets to play the part of Tamara. Tamara might be shorter, but I think she embodies the tenacity and passion that Sigourney portrayed in that movie.

And I’m sorry Cara, but for you I just keep coming up with Brittany Spears. She looks like she’s nothing but a piece of fluff in make-up, but when you get passed her good looks you find that she is really pretty darned amazing and very good at what she does.

It took me a little while to come up with an actor for Anna, but I finally found the perfect one: Julianne Moore from The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Anna was pretty quiet at first, but once I got to know her, I found her to be very knowledgeable and passionate about her chosen field.

For Juan, I think I need to apologize again: the actor that comes to mind when I think about him is Martin Short as seen in Father of The Bride. Juan was very talkative, chatting with me all night during our Beach Patrol – and yet, with his heavy accent, I found that I could only understand maybe every other word.

Ute, my fellow Earthwatch volunteer, will be played by Helen Hunt from Mad AboutYou. Helen is very matter-of-fact & to-the-point, and is a very strong self-sufficient woman quite capable of taking care of herself.

Now it’s your turn: who would you pick to play ME?

Meals on the Expedition

Meals were taken at Kike’s Place, just down the road from the station. It was a unique place, from an American point of view. The food was really good, the atmosphere was inviting, and Kike himself would come out from the kitchen to make sure everything was as good as it could possibly be.

Breakfast was at 11:00: I had a hard time with that at first, since I’m used to having breakfast at 9:00 and lunch at 11:00 – but given the bizarre sleep schedules we had, it actually worked out quite well. We had several options to choose from, anywhere from French toast to scrambled eggs or a more traditional rice & beans, each one coming with a plate of fresh fruit and a cup of coffee.

While eating breakfast, a dinner menu was passed around for each of us to choose what we wanted that night. This ensured that our dinner was ready for us right when we got there at 6:00 that night, since most people had to be patrolling the beach by 7:00 later one. Dinners were anything from chicken & rice to hamburgers to pizza to a salad with fish – all were very tasty.

And if for some reason all of that was not enough, our apartment back at the station was well stocked with bread for toast, fresh fruit, chips & salsa, and several different kinds of cookies.

The Goldering-Gunde Marine Biology Research Station

The research station where I got to stay for my 7^th Earthwatch Expedition was a very nice place. The layout was basically a duplex, with volunteers on one side and Scientists on the other side. There was only one other volunteer (for a total of two, including myself) so we each got our own room.

The scientists were all great people - I enjoyed getting to know each one of them. Adam was the station manager; Cory was his assistant manager; Alison, Tamara, Cara, Juan and Anna were biologists working with the turtles. There was a maid and two gate-guards as well, but I did not catch their names.

The other volunteer was Ute, from Canada. She was a Veterinary doctor who worked on horses back home. She had an unending sense of curiosity and wanted to know about everything. She and I spent a lot of time just chatting about this & that, and even got to spend some time together after the expedition ended.

The Pipe House Hostel

I had two days and three nights to myself on my vacation in Costa Rica so I booked a room at The Pipe House Hostel – I figured it could either be a colossal flop or a really cool place to stay.

Turns out, it was a really cool place to stay!

Felipe, the owner, was very friendly and helpful. The “room” was comfortable and had just enough room for all my stuff. And the shared spaces were all clean and tidy – and very comfortable.

I first arrived at 10:00 pm, so basically just crashed in my room. The next day, however, I got to do a bit of exploring around the gated compound. There were a handful of other people there as well, so I said hello to them. I found Felipe working on things in the back, so was able to pay up with him and arrange for a Farm Tour the next day. He gave me suggestions for lunch and directions on how to get there.

Most of that first day was spent on the beach, just a short two-minute walk from the compound. It truly is a beautiful beach, and quite popular with the surfers -many of whom would happily give lessons to newbies if need be.

Walking the beach that day, I actually ran in to one of the scientists that I’d be working with in a few days, so I arranged with her for them to come pick up the donations I had brought them, and ended up having dinner with them all that night.

The following day was my Farm Tour, a very interesting experience. It was a 100-acre farm with 250 head of cattle. The owner of the farm did speak some English, thankfully (because my Spanish really sucks). I got to milk a cow, feed the chickens, watch the baby piglets with their mamma, ride an old wooden cart pulled by two very large oxen around part of the farm, and then ride a horse around the other part of the farm. All in all, it was quite the day.

The next day was my check-out day, so took my time packing everything back up then just hung out in the communal area waiting for the scientists to pick me up for lunch.