07/18/2008, Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad
Magical, Moonlit Turtle Watch
Jesse James is the man to know here in Chaguaramas Bay. It's hard not to know him. He makes it his business (and rather a good business, too) to hold the hand of any cruiser, newbie or crusty old salt. He runs taxis and tours and always delivers on time. It was he whom we called when it was time to visit Matura Bay in hopes of spotting some nesting giant leatherback turtles.
This is a night time event, and Jesse arrived at our marina at 5pm to gather the cruisers for the trip. There were 14 of us piled into his maxi-taxi for the three-hour drive to the other side of the island. Jesse whiled away the time by educating us on the nesting habits of giant leatherback turtles. We stopped for a rather mediocre Chinese dinner and arrived at the beach at about 9:30. I expected to see a turtle, and was delighted at the prospect. What I didn't expect was the drama that played out in front of us on that moonlit beach. We had only been walking about 10 minutes when we saw our first mama turtle. She was heaving herself up the beach, away from the surf. We learned that the turtle chooses her nesting site based on the temperature of the sand. Closer to the sea is cooler, and results in more male turtle babies. Farther up the beach, away from the sea is warmer, and results in more females. There was another group of people watching one digging her nest a few hundred yards along, so we went to watch her. Before we could get to her though, a third one appeared in the surf, a little bit closer with each wave that helped her struggle up the sand to find her perfect spot.
Our group settled in to watch. She chose her spot and began to dig. She was flinging the sand in every direction, using her back flippers to reach into the deepening hole and excavate. When it was just the right depth, she began to widen it. Then, without wasting any time, she began to lay her eggs. Up until this moment we were forbidden to take any flash photos, as the light could frighten her and send her back out to sea. But while she is laying her eggs we could touch her and take pictures, she's too busy at that point to care.
Word problem: A turtle lays about 100 eggs each time she nests, and she will lay 5 - 7 clutches of eggs during the season. She then takes off a few years, and comes back about 3 years later to do it again, nesting every 3 - 5 years. She always returns to the same beach, and it's the beach on which she was born. She does this from age 25 throughout her life (lifespan: 80 - 100 years). One in a thousand turtle babies makes it to maturity. How many of her babies survive to adulthood? (post answers - a range will do - in the "comments" page)
She was magnificent. After laying the eggs, she began to cover and camouflage the nest. More flinging of sand ensued. She packs the sand down hard with her one-ton weight, circles around the nest until she's satisfied, and it's the last maternal act she will do. After she heads back out to sea, she won't see them again. As we watched her go, we felt so fortunate to have had the chance to experience this with her.
As we stood looking at the white surf into which she had vanished, Jesse called us over to a nest that was hatching! We watched the little babies, no larger than Benjamin's hand, emerge from the sand and head for the sea. It's dark, how do they know which direction to go? Even in the dark, the pounding surf is white and bright. In fact, on the night of our visit, the moon was so bright that the little ones were confused. If we shone a flashlight they would follow it, so we led some of them in the right direction. We also held them and marveled at their tiny little turtleness.
Then it was time to go. Benjamin was exhausted, and Jesse carried him back to the van, piggy-back. Sadly, we saw the remains of an adult turtle on the beach as we walked back. This is hard work, and they can become exhausted, especially if they are bothered during the nesting phase, and spend more time than usual out of the water. Fortunately, this beach is protected, and for the last 12 years has been patrolled every night by volunteers and researchers who control access to the beach, monitor the turtles, tag them with micro-chips, count, measure, and even weigh them. Our turtle had a micro-chip implanted in her shoulder, and one of the researchers came by and scanned it while she was laying. The effort is paying off. Some nights, we're told, as many as 150 will come ashore and nest. But we only needed one. We were all in awe of nature that night.
|
07/14/2008, Dominica to Bequia
It was a whirlwind race to Trinidad. We were about to leave Dominica when all our friends pulled into the bay, so we decided to stick around another week. There were 2 kid boats there, and some other people we've got to be good friends with along the route. The fallout, of course, is that then we had to hurry. We went from Martinique (3 nights in France, lovely) to St Lucia. We didn't go ashore, just took a mooring bouy and rested till midnight, when we took off for St Vincent. A front came through that wasn't on the weather reports, 32 knot winds, 12 foot seas, the works. Bill and I threw the kids out of the cockpit and and sent them down below, put on our foul weather gear, harnesses and tethers, and held on for the ride. He had to go up to the foredeck to put another reef in the main, and was thrown to the deck. Thank god for the tethers. That's the worst weather we've been out in so far, and it only lasted a few hours.
We got to St Vincent, Wallilabou Bay, about 10am, and were met by a contingent of boat boys starting 2 miles offshore. We took a mooring bouy and went ashore to explore the remains of the movie set from "Pirates of the Caribbean". There's a fair amount left. I have a photo of the Wanderlust tied stern-to the dock that featured in the movie. The kids were very impressed.
Next to Bequia (pronounced bek-way). We pulled into this anchorage at sundown after an easy afternoon, and 2 boats that we know were here and hailed us on the VHF. It's nice to be welcomed. We stayed here two nights and one day. Next a day sail to Union Island, anchor overnight, and then leave for a 24 hour sail to Trinidad. That will get us there Sunday am, the 6th. A little closer than I like to cut it, as the kids' flight to Chicago is the 9th, but it was worth it to spend time with our boat buddies in Dominica. Whew.
|
07/06/2008, Trinidad
We have just had a safe, swift, and very pleasant passage from Bequia to Trinidad. Wind aft of the beam (good for sailing) about 10- 12kts, waves never more than 2-3 feet if that, boat at 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 knots. We have been at rougher anchorages. It was easy the whole way. The kids even did schoolwork while underway. A first!
We are now south of the insurance required latitude for the hurricane season. Alice and Noah fly home in just a few days. We are at a transition point in our journey. We can choose not to go any further south if we please. We are not sure where we go from here.
Everyone is safe and sound, and the two big kids are really excited to go home to Chicago and visit. Big changes happening here.
|
