Thursday morning we took a wonderful three hour hike through the Maritime Forest. One of the really cool things about barrier islands is the unique set of environmental niches. Here you can walk across the island and see all the distinct flora and fauna of the beach, a maritime forest and a salt marsh. So, during our hike we identified tons of plants found along the trails of the forest. The great thing about hanging out with such a nerdy group is we repeated the names till they stuck and then quizzed each other the rest of the way. I think, with about 80% certainty, I can identify a good chunk of maritime forest trees and shrubs here on the island (red bay, red cedar, laurel oak, carolina laurel cherry, live oak, yupon holly, american holly....the list goes on...)
Then Thursday afternoon we took a historic tour of the island with the guide from Old Baldy. It's amazing to look out at the island from the top of the lighthouse and see the beach, forest and salt marsh and it was so neat to learn more about the historic role of BHI. We learned all about Stede Bonnet, a pirate who used BHI as a home base, the various lighthouses and the forts that were once here.
Later that night the turtlers (sea turtle interns - hence the blog name...) did our first beach patrol shift. Ok granted we only did a three hour beach walk, but we were loaded with equipment (a backpack, a cooler with tagging supplies and calipers), walking in almost complete darkness and shlepping through sand. Though I started out almost skipping with excitement and anticipation the pace quickly slowed and when we dragged back in at 12:15 am we were seriously disappointed in the lack of turtles. I had no idea ten miles could be so exhausting.
Friday morning I woke up just in time to have a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal before our hike through the salt marsh. It was really awesome to see such a distinct niche and Maureen identified all sorts of other plants and animals for us (sea pickle - edible and salty, fiddler crabs, periwinkle snails, salt marsh elder....). And Brett caught a glass lizard, a legless lizard native to this area, for us to see, which he later marked and released.
Friday afternoon after lunch we all took a quick birding trip to the Ibis pond and Middle Island and we, thankfully, were given the rest of the afternoon to rest up before the turtlers went on another patrol. Turtle patrol can be a really great experience when you actually see a turtle. But, when you see nothing but darkness for hours on end and all you can think about is how much your knees and feet hurt, well....it can take quite a toll. The 7 of us, 6 interns plus Brett, stumbled in late last night rather disheartened and completely exhausted. Fortunately this weekend we only have a few optional activities like beach combing and crabbing classes that are open to the public. Both of which I ideally will be at, but we are supposed to start full nights of patrols this weekend, so I may be resting up instead.
In other news I've already started (or rather attempted) to collect data for my summer research project that involves measuring turtle tracks and correlating these measurements to turtle size and carapace length/width. And I'm shooting out emails to see if I can use previously collected turtle biopsies to get a jump start on my Master's research (woohoo higher education!). And I have a lead on housing in Fort Worth for next year. All good news.
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment