Find your happy

Hello everyone!
It has been exactly a month since i posted an entry here.
For bit i did not post because I wasn't in the field and there really wasn't too much to talk about and then I got ridiculously busy.
But today, its a rainy day, and frankly, data entry can wait a bit longer while I update this instead haha.

The reason I take so many pictures of everything is not only because I enjoy it, but because i have a memory like Dory, it helps me keep track of what has transpired in the last month of so. I had a bunch of pictures on my Olympus "waterproof" that flooded and i havent tried it out again, I've been letting it live in the dry box in hopes it recuperates. I had pictures there of my awesome trip to Rocky Point (agricultural areas) with the Canadians which consisted of puppies, water crossings, and howler monkeys!

First off...THIS thing came into the house!!! Haha. I have been working on my fear of spiders for years. And i promise you I have gotten slightly better. BUT THIS WAS NOT NICE. And according to someone, we have a lot living in out backyard...YAY. But my boss Victoria caught it and we let it out. No matter how scared i was of it, I still didnt really want to kill it, i just didnt want it in my house!

TARANTULA MONSTER. 

 After the monster was caught, I was in the field for five days, right before my birthday. And it was a gorgeous five days, not a lot of rain, plenty of sun and turts!!!

We have a lot of these guys on Crawl Cay where we stay. They always startle me a bit when they hop around, but thankfully I am not afraid of grasshoppers.

Selfie in the water. 

Bunch of these guys hanging out on the point.

This little dude lives on Grape Cay. BY HIMSELF. The watchman is rarely there and he never comes onto the beach, except he did this time, because i am pretty sure the little guy was STARVING. We now feed him and make sure he has water. I have ranted many a time about what a b*tch the woman is who brought him to a freaking island and left him there. Tourism can def. be harmful, and b*tches can be stupid and cruel. I'm done. 

STARFISH! My team found him for me and brought him over. He was safely back in the water soon after this was taken! Columbilla Cay! 

This little guy was stuck in a nest i was excavating, survival was doubtful but we tried.




I went snorkeling when i got back after survey a lot that week. SO many of these starfish and sea urchins as well. Those i didnt pick up haha.

And a sea cucumber :D. Unfortunately, there has been an influx of Chinese into pearl lagoon that have started new markets in sea cucumber and actually, jellyfish. This puts even more pressure on the ecosystems here.The sad fact is, there is money in it, and the job market is so bad in Nicaragua, that people will do anything.

                                         

I stayed up most of the nights in hopes of seeing the nest this little guy came out of, hatch. Only saw four hatchlings, but personally walked this little guy to the water :D <3

Mama hawksbill on Bottom Tawira

Juvenile hawksbill on Savanna.

Baby calipers for the juvie!

Watched these guys break into conch. I understand people have to eat, but I'm 100% sure there is no control of take of conch in the cays...

SO thats what that looks like

Waltar Cay. Had a bunch of tanks for diving here.

Team Leader Nexlor. My team fishing for dinner!

After a crazy five days in the field I got home and with Victoria and Laura walked to Awas, a nearby town on the water to watch the sunset. And drink some beers of course.

Mother and Daughter team

    The following day i turned 24! Haha...yeah. Another year, another turtle project, another country! Had a great group come out!

With my great boss, Victoria!

With my neighbor and friend, Lillieth!

Haha. Greg was awesome and bought everyone beers and drove us over to Awas! The guy on the left is from Oregon and talks like a native!

"Nicaraguan tradition" of eggs and flour!

Blue steel look with my favorite Canadians. 

WCS ladies :D

Everyone enjoying the drinking games!

My banana, ginger, cinnamon, cake.

YUM!

The Canadians brought over some wine!

We got a panga ride back to Pearl Lagoon from Jimmy. 

Day in Awas followed by a lovely dinner on the back porch with everyone!

Onion rings, breadfruit, chicken and rice and beans!!! YUM!

Thanks everyone! It was fun!!!

               It was a fun birthday for sure. I wasnt at all homesick like i though i would be because I am surrounded by amazing people here in Nicaragua!

Luckily not only do we have hawksbills nesting here in the Pearl Cays, but it is a foraging ground for greens, leatherbacks, and loggerheads. So i have the chance to see four species while here....and hopefully have some time to go to the Pacific to see my first Olive Ridleys *crosses fingers*

Juvenile Green turtle

Two of my team members, Harvey and Boyd!

Tan as F! haha 

I dont eat turtle!

Gorgeous!!!

Fishermen on the Lagoon on the way back from the Pearl Cays yesterday.

            I have been having a blast here in Nicaragua. I miss everyone dearly but this has been a good way for me to get out of South Florida and explore, meet new people, and reduce the hate on Miami enough to tolerate it when I get back ;). I am about to hit two months here (can't believe it!!!) and that means i have 7 months left. I party hard, i work hard, and i play hard. Life is good.

Until the next time.

Melissa

Wait...where's the bathroom?

Have i ever told you how being completely dry is amazing? I arrived earlier today from 5 days in the field. Five days in which i was either jumping in and out of the boat or getting poured on while trying to mark nests. I love fieldwork i really do. But sometimes I'd rather be clean and dry hahaha!

My title says it all. There is no latrine (as of yet, its been promised) on our island yet. The only bathroom that is available happens to basically be a hole that opens into the ocean...OH THE WASTE MANAGEMENT issues i have with that one. I usually wait until we get to Water Cay where there is a TOILET!!!  But i digress...thats been enough bathroom talk. ;)

Base camp has finally been built, i took some pictures of it without the zinc roof and forgot to take more  when it was finished but I will when i go out next week to train the next team!

Getting our gear inside and finishing up base camp!

Our panga and the gorgeous sunset!

Sleeping in my hammock can either be rather cozy or too damn hot! Its quite the coccon, I'll post a picture of it set up next time as well.

Our first day out, we were playing catch up because we hadn't been out in about a week. So we worked up about 15 nests on the cays we were able to reach. The weather was not conducive for getting out to Columbilla, a cay that is not only further away but has a really tricky entrance. 

We did go out to a cay that we rarely visit to see if anything had nested. It is a very rocky cay, with a bit of a tricky entrance as well, but gorgeous. Those hawksbill do love their crazy rocky beaches! The sad part was the collection of GARBAGE on this island. Nobody lives on this island, yet it is a landfill for plastic bottles on its backside, saddening. 

Cow Cram (sp?) A view of part of the entrance, very rocky.

THE WORST PART, this collection of nasty plastic!!

 After working all morning (5:30 am we set out!) until lunchtime, with only some cookies to sustain us. Some yummy Bon bread and chocoloco warmed us right up!!! Love this pairing!

YUUMMM. Que rico!!

 I know you are supposedly (miami accent inserted) not to swim for thirty minutes after you eat pero like what had happened was...i was already soaked from the rain so I decided to jump in!

Yes. This happened.

Lots of fun logs to pose on (or trip over)

Here are some pictures from some of the fieldwork done in the last couple of days. Havent gotten pictures marking nests because I've been training the team, but there were some visitors recently, and one has a nice DSLR so im waiting for some sweet shots soon!

FINALLY a good hawksbill crawl!

Beaut!

Finally free!

Farewell Mama Hawksbill!

Thanks for reading everyone, I head out again Tuesday!

Melissa

Hot Mess

Frankly,

I don't know how to start this. I had my two-week-aversary here in Pearl Lagoon yesterday.

Its been a crazy, hot mess of a two weeks.

I came here knowing I would have a lot to do, but was maybe not truly aware of how behind we were.

Basically the project should have started in June, but instead its just about to start this week, half-way through July. Therefore, it's been a crazy catch-up of marking nests, training,  and placing data-loggers.

Now, for those of you who don't know this is not my first sea-turtle project. I worked with the UCF Marine Turtle Group for two seasons (and always go back for visits) and then last year worked with the Sea Turtle Conservancy. And each project has its up and downs and complications.

This project is unique to the last two in the fact that we have to travel to cays off the coast to work with the sea turtles. Therefore, there has to be a camp, food, etc etc. prepared beforehand.

Grape Cay


There is no hard day and night of survey and patrol and going home to electricity and interwebz here....lol


It's hard. Truly, its the toughest project I've been on, and not just physically, but mentally.
The culture here is completely different (more similar to STC in Costa Rica). Many fishermen, and lobster divers etc that use the cays will say that "no we are not taking the eggs" when in fact they are.

Also, there is a green turtle fishery here that is completely legal, they do have a "veda" a time where there is a ban on fishing, but it is still allowed. And it is painful to see turtle fishermen and talk to them and realize what they do. That their livelihoods are to kill the very species you have worked to conserve. And have to smile at them and be friendly. I understand that they have to make a living, i know the economy is tough here. But to kill a species that takes so long to reach reproductive age, at the prime of its life, is painful to watch...

Male Green Turtle being dragged to shade. 

Male Green Turtle.

What is also painful to watch is the destruction that is occurring on the beautiful Pearl Cays. So many natural resources are being abused. Mangrove swamps being cut and burned, vegetation being cleared, and massive erosion on most cays.


But enough environment talk, for now...:D


I've been making friends with some locals and with a bunch of Canadians here on a project with a local school, so I've been slowly adjusting. I miss my family and friends tons though. And tonight I'm buying my ticket to go home in December for two weeks!!! So see you soon---ishhh LOL

Some pictures of my adventures!

Lime Cay

Fourth of July spent with fellow Americans and BBQ!!!

A nest I relocated :D

Female Hawksbill hel by local fishermen. They hold them for us so we can tag and work them up.

My first Ei hatchling was a bit deformed but still loved. Good luck Freddy!

<3 Turts

My walk through an inundated section on the way to Awas. 

Bathing in the creek by the roadside

The town of Raitipura behind me. 

Watching the sunset and children play in Pearl Lagoon in Awas.

Thanks for reading :)

Melissa