Thanksgiving

I got up really early on Thanksgiving to make a satellite phone call with my family. Skype sometimes works for me, but they have never been able to hear my voice…I always have to type. So this day, I got to have a real conversation with them and I even got to talk to my dogs!

The rest of the morning was spent cooking and preparing for the actual Thanksgiving event. Desserts were made, the turkey got put in the oven (thanks to advice from Kyle’s mom), roll dough was made, etc.

We also made some pumpkin spiced cookies that LeeAnn got us in our November bucket!

We did all of this while listening to some oldies!

As the turkey was coming out of the oven and as Katrina was figuring out how to carve it, Kyle and I started on some sides. Two kinds of gravies were made!

Then it was time to eat. We had turkey, stuffing, two kinds of cranberry sauce, puréed, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and peppers, green bean casserole, and rolls! It was really good. And we all ate way too much. Then we shoved more food in in the form of pies and tortes and cookies for desserts! We even had whip cream thanks to Colin, Katrina, and my arm strength.

After we ate, we decided to burn a few calories by playing a game Colin introduced to us as Dartmouth Pong. Too bad we can’t have beer here. So we played with salt water in the cups but we drank sparkling apple cider instead. Also tasty!

Then it was time for the Shark Chute run. We all piled into the gator with five buckets of slop and four jugs of water to fill. We were pretty crammed in there. Steve was hanging off the back, Colin was in the back too, but sitting on a slop bucket, Kyle drove, Katrina was in the passenger seat, and I was in the middle of them, with no seat. We were all holding empty jugs (except Kyle).

We dumped a bunch of buckets. One bucket contained the turkey giblets, the neck, and the carcass of said turkey. So we thought a shark would show up…BUT NO…it was disappointing. But then we got to see a turtle passing by. That was cool. The turkey got pushed back to shore, so Katrina threw it out further before we left. The chubs that were around sure loved that turkey neck. Enjoy…I guess.

When we got back, we played Quiddler and other games until it was really late. It was a good, full belly day.

My Cloaked Friends

So I was hanging out at the Hidey Hole (turtle survey location) on my day off.  I went at 4 o’clock to see if I could see any sea turtles. And of course I did.  Those guys are always there.  I was there for about 20 minutes when I saw something in the water a ways out.  It was black.  And it was big.  I had my camera rolling the whole time.  You can hear me say, “Holy shhhhh” as it was coming closer and getting larger.  Then I noticed another one.  As they were getting closer, I noticed their movements.  It was very graceful and fluid.  Closer and closer they got as their shape became apparent.  They were rays.  Not just any rays, Manta Rays.

Manta Rays are beautiful when you see them swimming.  They flap their triangular wings like a bird as they glide through the ocean.  They are normally fairly close to the surface and congregate where there is an abundance of food.  The word Manta means “mantel” or “cloak.” Mantas also have the largest brain to weight ratio of all the cartilage fish and is the around the same size as a human.  They also have a complexity of arteries and veins that surround the brain, believed to keep the brain slightly warmer than the surrounding water.

It is thought that having a warmer brain increases alertness and intelligence.  It is unclear as to why a plankton-eating ray needs a fast working smart brain.  The largest one on record measured 23 feet from wing tip to wing tip and weighed 3,100 lbs!  Most are between 8 and 12 feet wide.  I think one of the ones I saw was about 10 feet wide and the other slightly larger!

I continued to sit and watch turtles when I saw them coming back to my area out of the corner of my eye.  They swam out and then back in, towards me, again.  The larger one got so close to me that I had to zoom out my camera.  He swam about 4 feet from the wall I was sitting on.  It was amazing and quite moving.  People plan and spend money to see these remarkable creatures, and I had two come and visit me.  This place is magical.

Sea Turtle Survey

The whole point of the survey is to estimate the number of turtles present and detect any major changes in the turtle activity over a long period of time.  It is a way for us to check on the status of sea turtle populations.  We have Green Turtles here.  Active turtles need to breathe every few minutes. Resting turtles can hold their breath for two hours!  They grow to be about 3-4 feet in length and can weigh up to 400 pounds!  Most people think that Green Turtles are named for their shell that is covered in algae, but they are actually named for the green color of their fat.  This was discovered by eating them, which you can’t do anymore.  So don’t!  Green Turtles were added to the threatened list under the Endangered Species Act in 1978. There are two locations that were picked for this survey because you can always find a sea turtle.  There is a lot of sea grass growing in that area, a snack they appear to like.  There is a peninsula that sticks out the on the South side of the island.  We take position on opposite sides of the peninsula facing different directions.  I always claim the “Hidey Hole.”  This is me in the Hidey Hole.

It is sort of like a bench wall with a cement overhang that creates this cool temperatured environment.  I think it was designed as a wave breaker back in the day to prevent water getting on the road that is behind the wall.  The waves can get pretty big.  It’s called the Hidey Hole because you have to squeeze through a hole in the wall to get there.  You can see from this panoramic picture of my view that all the way to the right you can see a little sliver of space…that’s the hole.

So the Hidey Hole looks out towards the Eastern waters.  The other location, “West”, looks Westerly and has no shade. Every other week, I and some other blessed soul gets to complete the sea turtle survey.  I radio to my partner, which was Kyle this week, the start time and we begin.  We sit and wait to see turtles within an hour.  We watch the water and look for turtles to break the surface of the water.  Now, the turtles move.  So you may see the same turtle multiple times in an hour.  We have to take the best guess as to how many individual turtles are actually present.  I draw a map in my notebook and mark an X every time I see a turtle and then look to see if they are surfacing in the same spot or maybe they are headed out to open sea.

It is breath-taking every time I get to see a turtle.  They are amazing creatures.  I can’t believe I get to stare at the ocean and count turtles as part of a job.  This place is magical and I am so happy to be a part of it.