Sad day for all. I rode my bike past Ramona’s tree and peeked in. I didn’t see her. As I passed it, I realized I didn’t see any white. I slammed on my breaks and blew out a flip flop getting off my bike. I ran over to the tree and didn’t see anyone there. I ran around the whole tree thinking that maybe he waddled over somewhere new. But I didn’t see him. Young Neil passed away at 11 days old. I hope whoever got him made it fast. Sorry, Young Neil. And I feel awful for the parents.
One day, I did the Sea Turtle Survey. And from where I was in the Hidey Hole, I estimated seeing 17 turtles in one hour. I got back to camp and told everyone. Then we all decided that we wanted to see some Green Sea Turtles from the water. After eating lunch, we all got our stuff together and headed over to the Hidey Hole. Colin was the first to jump in. Then Kyle, Katrina, and then Steve.
Once people were in, I saw how clear the water was. Usually, it is kind of murky over there. We might actually get to see something! Then it was my turn to jump in. The water here is so perfect. The temperature is amazing. You never feel too cold or hot, just perfect.
We all started swimming in different directions to try and find a turtle. There was lots of sea weed stuff down there. And there were a ton of fish.
I kept looking behind me to check for sharks; they always come from behind. And I saw a big cluster of fish following me everywhere. I don’t need any cleaning, thank you though.
Then I saw a turtle. He was swimming away from me. But he was so cool. I was not sure what to expect. I have been swimming with manatees in Florida before and I was totally freaked out because the water was really murky. There would be nothing there and then all of a sudden there was a huge manatee butt in my face. I didn’t like it. But this day, swimming with turtles, the water was clear enough for me to see the turtles before they were right in my face. I liked that.
After I watched that turtle swim off, I swam in the opposite direction to find more turtles. I was distracted looking at some fish, when I saw a large, dark figure off in the distance. So the first thing I did was get my camera recording. I watched as the figure was getting closer and bigger as it was headed right for me. Then, as it was close enough, the shape was more defined and the Green Sea Turtle was seen in all its glory. She headed straight for me; I don’t think she saw me yet. She was flapping her flippers like a bird as she soared through the water. Then she noticed me and turned so as not to run right into me. She was only about four feet away from me. I guess it is true that if you stay still, wildlife will come to you. She turned and slowly swam away. Off to do more turtle things.
The whole trip was pretty amazing. Everyone but Steve got to see at least one turtle. We all had a good day though. Colin stole my sunglasses so I took his as we went back to camp and rubbed in the fact that Steve didn’t get to see any turtles.
Don’t worry. Steve and I went out another day and he got to see his own turtle. Success!
So I know it is really late, but here are some photos of our Fourth of July extravaganza!
A couple weeks ago, I was just walking around the island on my day off. My final destination was going to be the Hidey Hole so that I could see some turtles. I was going to go straight there but had this weird feeling to go to South Shore first. I got to the beach and started to walk it when I saw some trash half in the water/half on shore.
I had already found a spaceship and I was wondering what I had discovered now. I started to move closer when I discovered that it wasn’t trash at all. It was something far from it. It was an endangered Green Sea Turtle! We have never seen them on the beach. What was he doing there? He was beautiful. I took two pictures and then ran to my bike. Of course I didn’t have a radio with me, of all days. I have never ridden that fast in my life. My legs were burning. When I reached camp, I still had enough in me to scream at everyone. I told them to get their cameras and to get their asses in the gator. I drove us back the beach and we found the turtle had moved higher up the beach. He was just chillin’. We were concerned that there was something wrong as it was still light outside and we have never seen them on the beach before. We determined that dude was just there to sun bathe.
Katrina did some reading when we got back. The large tail indicates that he was a male and that he was at least 25 years old! I guess I didn’t have to go all the way to the Hidey Hole to see a sea turtle after all!
NOTE: These guys are endangered and require lots of space. All marine animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Sea turtles are one species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and also Hawaii State Law. Responsible viewing can be done by viewing “from a distance” and they should never be fed, touched, or ridden. I wish my zoom was better on my camera to get a closer photo, but I am happy with what I was able to get!
A lunar eclipse is when the sun, Earth, and moon are in a relatively straight line. The Earth is in the center and the sun casts the Earth’s shadow on the moon. Very cool. What is great about lunar eclipses as opposed to solar ones is that the moon is much smaller and so the Earth’s shadow covers it longer. The whole thing can last hours, depending of the alignment angle. One of these lunar eclipses took place on early October 8, 2014 in the middle of the night. I was told by a friend that this part of the world was going to be able to view it. I was hoping I would too. So I did the math and figured that it would occur around midnight my time. Hopefully the angle would work out and I could see it. I watched a movie to keep me awake. When it ended at 12:20am, I jumped out of bed and ran out of my tent. Spectacular.
I pulled out my chair that reclines out from under my tarp roof and laid back and watched it for about a half an hour. I have seen one before, but it was cloudy and starting to become morning when I saw one. This viewing was much better. It was straight up in the sky and there were no clouds. I was really happy that my side of the world was able to view the lunar eclipse. The next one is on April 4th, 2015.
Okay, I don’t really know that. But we are saying it is a boy. Mark your calendars. Young Neil was born on the morning of October 12, 2014. Isn’t he disgusting looking? I took this picture at around nine that morning. It was the first sighting of him. As you can see, he is still a little wet. He is fresh out of his egg. You can see one side of his split shell in front of him – that purple thing, and the other half behind him.
This will get smashed as the parents walk around. Ramona was not with her chick when this photo was taken. Perhaps she was out getting a meal. I rode my bike by later and Ramona was sitting on Young Neil. Most likely trying to hide his hairdo so on one would make fun of him. She has her wing out. He is under her wing. I really hope Young Neil has a successful adolescence and wards off all evils that attempt to hinder him. I would love to see him make his first flight before I leave the island.
I biked to the eastern side of the island with my headlamp to wait for the full moon to rise over this really tall cloud. While I waited, I walked the beach. There were a lot of Boobies crammed into the tiny trees right by the water sleeping for the night. It was kind of adorable. The wind was picking up and it felt nice. Not so nice were the crabs that were jumping out at the last second to run into the ocean to avoid me. I hate those things. The moon still was not coming out. I noticed that the cloud was getting closer to the island. And then it was right on top of me. At first, it was a nice sprinkle. Then it started to rain. It felt really nice and I stayed out there. Then I remembered my computer in my backpack that was hanging on my bike seat. Crap. I ran over there, in flip flops, in the rain, in the dark. I took my shirt and hung it over my bag to try and protect it from the rain. I started to bike back to camp. It was hard to see anything because the rain was being reflected by my head lamp. I ended up turning it off and I could see much better.
Thankfully the moon was creeping out as this rain cloud moved away from it. I took the runway as opposed to Internet Road to avoid road obstacles like bushes growing in the road cracks. I noticed that the back edge of the storm was right over me. And I realized I was just biking to stay in the storm. I started to slow. I was going to go right to my tent but then saw something that made me stop. At first I wasn’t sure. But as the storm was moving on and the full moon was making its way out from behind a distant cloud, I saw it. A Lunar Rainbow.
How cool is that? Did you even know it existed? I didn’t. I am putting it up there with unicorn sightings. It was beautiful. I just stood there for the longest time in awe. I wanted to take a picture but there were droplets on the lens. I tried to wipe it on my shirt but it was soaked. So with one big blow, I was able to clear it and take some pictures. I was so shocked when I saw them come out on the screen. I took a few more and then radioed to anybody about the rainbow. I put my shirt back on as the rain had stopped and my bag was safe. I pulled into camp and asked if they heard my radio call.
Colin and Katrina got to see it and were very impressed. Steve and Kyle had already gone to bed. Sorry guys. You just missed out on something AMAZING!! According to Wikipedia, these things can be called a lunar rainbow, moonbow, black rainbow, white rainbow, and space rainbow. It is a rainbow that is made from the light reflected off the moon as opposed to direct sunlight. It also says that because the light is often too low for the cone receptors in our eyes to detect color, the rainbows often look white. Not this one. I could see every color in it. You gotta love a full moon in the middle of the ocean with no light pollution!
I was sitting by my treatment monitoring point again, and I was just watching Ramona sitting on her egg. Then, out of nowhere (although I suspect the sky), her beau showed up. Scott, the beau, landed next to the tree and started to make his way under the tree. Once Scott met up with Ramona, they had brief conversation. So cute. Then they did the switching of the ass on the egg and Ramona flew off, leaving Scott to parental duties. They are all doing well, egg included. Soon we’ll be seeing the little bundle of joy!
I like to swim along the North Sea Wall right off of camp. It is really close to my tent, about a two minute walk, and I can always be heard if I am being eaten by a shark or something. Now the Sea Wall is made of concrete. It is kind of like a tall curb from the island side. On the ocean side, it angles down lower, levels out again, and then drops into the ocean. Along the way of the wall, there are rain drains. These, I imagine, were to keep excessive rain water off of the roads. From the water, you can see where the water runs out of these drains. They also cause a bump in the wall that you can see here. My shoes and stuff are right by one.
Why am I telling you this? I use these drains as my lap lane end indicators. They are easy to see as I swim and breathe. And I wanted to know how far I was swimming. I measured, and I am not sure what man came up with it, but the drains are spaced 107 meters apart. So if I do eight laps (there and back being one), I will do just over a mile. It is a pretty long lap, but I felt up to the challenge. If you look where the wall starts to turn, that is just about where the other drain is. Some days the ocean tide it too low for me to swim. Other days, it can be so high and rough that I get punched in the face by waves when I take a breath. It’s fun. Do you see all the splotchy stuff in the water? That is coral. I like to swim right next to it and see all the fishies! Like this Spotted Box Fish going back to the cover of the coral.
So the sky here at night is pretty bananas. When you first look up, you can see constellations that you know. Ones like Orion, Pleiades, Cassiopeia, and Ursa Minor and Major.
But, if you actually take the time to let your eyes adjust, magic happens. The first thing you see is the Milky Way. Yeah, the Milky Way. It is beautiful. You can see it stretch from one side of the sky to the other. The pictures do not do it justice. There are so many colors and depths to it. It is truly mind blowing.
Then, when you try and find your constellations again, they aren’t there. Or, at least, they are hiding in the billions of other stars that came out to be seen. I like to lie on my back by the ocean and listen to the waves as I stare up at the sky. It is strange being so small and be looking up at something incomprehensibly huge. Sometimes a little puffy cloud will come by and all you see is darkness in that spot. Other times, you can see boobies coming in from fish hunting. Again, all you see is their black silhouettes. And, if you lie there long enough, you get to see shooting stars. Benefits of being hundreds of miles from the nearest artificial light source!
Please note: These photos were taken by Katrina
Johnston Atoll Adventures 