Gearing up my scuba tank and hoisting my 30 lbs of gear onto the boat has somehow become commonplace in my life. Its crazy how things that I would not have imagined doing 6 months ago has become such a normalcy in South Caicos. Like doing sunset yoga on a cliff over the ocean, staring up at the brightest night sky I've ever seen counting the shooting stars, or coming face to face with a sea turtle, wondering how something can be so graceful. With every day that passes, my heart sinks a little more when I look at the ocean... knowing that my mindful glances are limited... and after 85 days, still I find myself trying to quantify my love and curiosity for the sea.
Last week had one overall theme... research, research, and more research! But hey... I'm okay with that :)
So on monday after our exam, the sleep deprived conch group high tailed it on the 24 (one of our boats) to Admiral Cockburn's National Land & Sea Park (the marine protected area we study) and slapped out six transects like it was our job... I guess it is kind of our job for now, except instead of getting paid in money we get paid with turtle sightings and sun tans. We came back to process the individuals we had collected to dissect, but our time was cut short due to some crazy downpours. Apparently, we have entered the rainy season, so almost every day for the past few weeks we have been graced by short lived storm clouds. Usually rain is welcomed though because its so darn hot here!
On Tuesday there was a presence about the ocean that I won't ever forget... since it rained so much the day before, there was a thin layer of freshwater lying over the saltwater... and absolutely no waves. The ocean looked like glass and it was so clear that 15 feet looked like 2, and every bit of coral was outlined perfectly. I haven't seen it like this since we've been here... so it was awesome. We dove for our transects today, because the sights that we went to were too deep to snorkel. Unfortunately, like every other day... we only found about 10 conch for the entire 4 hours we were out in the field. It shocks me every time at how low the numbers are. But let me tell you, breathing through my regulator for 50 minutes at a time is always a treat... no matter what I try to never take diving for granted. Its no secret that diving isn't great in the midwest :)
On Wednesday we dove two more sites outside of the MPA, where we were diving alongside the fishermen who have fishing in their bloodlines. So when they saw us collecting their conch with dive gear (which is illegal for them... for us, we have a research permit) they were probably not too happy with us. After being here for 3 months, its pretty common knowledge that the fishermen are not exactly keen on what SFS does with our research... so we always have to be considerate of them. Anyways, we collected conch like normal and brought back random individuals for processing. This week, we have finally gotten down our pattern in dissections... so kicking back in the sun, listening to music, and talking about life during our 3 hour long dissections has been kind of therapeutic, minus all of the yucky mucous that comes out of the conch! After a long day in the sun... we were all quite exhausted, but an ice cold beer and a long chat with my favorite islanders seems to cure everything here :)
Thursday called for another early day of research... 8AM we left to survey three sites inside the protected area. All of the sites we go to are named, so if anyone ever wants to go back it stays consistent and it is easier to say site names instead of GPS coordinates. Well, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I officially have a site named after me. SD20 is a pretty awesome place, even though it didn't have too much of anything there! We got finished early on Thursday, so it was nice to finally have some free time! We all went out and danced and hung out with the locals all night (or until curfew).
On Friday, I was not feeling very well... let me tell you, the heat and dehydration really catches up to you when you least expect it... so unfortunately I stayed in from field work, took a long nap, and drank about a gallon of water. I was feeling much better later in the day, so I think I was just heat exhausted and needed a little break!
Saturday rolled around with early morning dives and outreach. My group went to a dive site that I have never been to, called "The Maze." It was beautiful as ever, and the water was soo warm (about 82 degrees!) We saw tons of awesome fish, corals, and yet again, I was in my happy place! It hit me that this is the second to last dive I will have... and the thought completely freaks me out. Yuck! We had a special outreach that was in celebration of Earth Day (which was last weekend). There was a lot of face painting, relay games, and giggles with all of the kids we've all grown to love. Saturday night was one of the most fun nights I have ever had... The firemen of the island threw all of us a big party. It was a long night of dancing, singing, drinking, and reminiscing- trying to hold back tears and constantly telling each other to stay positive.
Sunday was the first day in a long time that I had absolutely nothing to do... a rarity that I never take for granted. So after reading my book about loggerhead sea turtles all morning we laid by the pool and listened to music. After lunch, we went to East Bay beach and stayed in the water for hours playing frisbee, swimming, and playing soccer in the sand. A relaxing day for sure!
Now it's Monday... the beginning of the last full week here, and I cannot stop thinking about how our time has gone so quickly here. Even though it will be a busy week compiling ANOVA tests (a statistical analysis), writing our final papers, and making sure that we can defend our project thesis as much as possible... I still plan on taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.
Ten days left. Ten days to laugh with people I may never see again, ten days to appreciate my favorite coral (Montastrea cavernosa... it looks like cheerios!), ten days left to bask in the hot Caribbean sun, ten days left to squeeze every possible experience I can...
Challenge accepted!
Last week had one overall theme... research, research, and more research! But hey... I'm okay with that :)
So on monday after our exam, the sleep deprived conch group high tailed it on the 24 (one of our boats) to Admiral Cockburn's National Land & Sea Park (the marine protected area we study) and slapped out six transects like it was our job... I guess it is kind of our job for now, except instead of getting paid in money we get paid with turtle sightings and sun tans. We came back to process the individuals we had collected to dissect, but our time was cut short due to some crazy downpours. Apparently, we have entered the rainy season, so almost every day for the past few weeks we have been graced by short lived storm clouds. Usually rain is welcomed though because its so darn hot here!
On Tuesday there was a presence about the ocean that I won't ever forget... since it rained so much the day before, there was a thin layer of freshwater lying over the saltwater... and absolutely no waves. The ocean looked like glass and it was so clear that 15 feet looked like 2, and every bit of coral was outlined perfectly. I haven't seen it like this since we've been here... so it was awesome. We dove for our transects today, because the sights that we went to were too deep to snorkel. Unfortunately, like every other day... we only found about 10 conch for the entire 4 hours we were out in the field. It shocks me every time at how low the numbers are. But let me tell you, breathing through my regulator for 50 minutes at a time is always a treat... no matter what I try to never take diving for granted. Its no secret that diving isn't great in the midwest :)
On Wednesday we dove two more sites outside of the MPA, where we were diving alongside the fishermen who have fishing in their bloodlines. So when they saw us collecting their conch with dive gear (which is illegal for them... for us, we have a research permit) they were probably not too happy with us. After being here for 3 months, its pretty common knowledge that the fishermen are not exactly keen on what SFS does with our research... so we always have to be considerate of them. Anyways, we collected conch like normal and brought back random individuals for processing. This week, we have finally gotten down our pattern in dissections... so kicking back in the sun, listening to music, and talking about life during our 3 hour long dissections has been kind of therapeutic, minus all of the yucky mucous that comes out of the conch! After a long day in the sun... we were all quite exhausted, but an ice cold beer and a long chat with my favorite islanders seems to cure everything here :)
Thursday called for another early day of research... 8AM we left to survey three sites inside the protected area. All of the sites we go to are named, so if anyone ever wants to go back it stays consistent and it is easier to say site names instead of GPS coordinates. Well, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I officially have a site named after me. SD20 is a pretty awesome place, even though it didn't have too much of anything there! We got finished early on Thursday, so it was nice to finally have some free time! We all went out and danced and hung out with the locals all night (or until curfew).
On Friday, I was not feeling very well... let me tell you, the heat and dehydration really catches up to you when you least expect it... so unfortunately I stayed in from field work, took a long nap, and drank about a gallon of water. I was feeling much better later in the day, so I think I was just heat exhausted and needed a little break!
Saturday rolled around with early morning dives and outreach. My group went to a dive site that I have never been to, called "The Maze." It was beautiful as ever, and the water was soo warm (about 82 degrees!) We saw tons of awesome fish, corals, and yet again, I was in my happy place! It hit me that this is the second to last dive I will have... and the thought completely freaks me out. Yuck! We had a special outreach that was in celebration of Earth Day (which was last weekend). There was a lot of face painting, relay games, and giggles with all of the kids we've all grown to love. Saturday night was one of the most fun nights I have ever had... The firemen of the island threw all of us a big party. It was a long night of dancing, singing, drinking, and reminiscing- trying to hold back tears and constantly telling each other to stay positive.
Sunday was the first day in a long time that I had absolutely nothing to do... a rarity that I never take for granted. So after reading my book about loggerhead sea turtles all morning we laid by the pool and listened to music. After lunch, we went to East Bay beach and stayed in the water for hours playing frisbee, swimming, and playing soccer in the sand. A relaxing day for sure!
Now it's Monday... the beginning of the last full week here, and I cannot stop thinking about how our time has gone so quickly here. Even though it will be a busy week compiling ANOVA tests (a statistical analysis), writing our final papers, and making sure that we can defend our project thesis as much as possible... I still plan on taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.
Ten days left. Ten days to laugh with people I may never see again, ten days to appreciate my favorite coral (Montastrea cavernosa... it looks like cheerios!), ten days left to bask in the hot Caribbean sun, ten days left to squeeze every possible experience I can...
Challenge accepted!
Picture from last week's sunrise :)
Beautiful view from the SailRock villas!
The South Caicos bank, open three hours a week... the definition of "island time" :)