Rodeo at the Blue Hole

Today Jessee and I went on a "turtle rodeo." That's the name the turtle researchers have given to a particular method of capturing turtles. The way it works is you drive the boat around in prime turtle habitat with as many people as possible acting as spotters. When a turtle is spotted you follow it in the boat to tire it out. Once it comes up for a breath or two it's pretty much knackered and will sit nearly motionless on the bottom. Then one person dives in head-first and grabs on. Pretty exciting! Some are better at it than others. Gilbert, a local fisherman and project assistant, can get them on the first try nearly every time. Jessee and I took 4 and 5 tries each before getting ours!

Crossing the Caicos Bank

The researchers wanted to target Green Turtles today, so we chose to go to habitat that is ideal for them. They mostly graze on seagrass and there is a great spot to find them around the Middle Caicos "Blue Hole." The Blue Hole is a collapsed underwater cave. It's on the bank side of the Middle Caicos (the shallow side opposite the open ocean), so the water is only about 4 or 5 feet deep around it. The hole itself, however, drops straight down to about 200 feet. It's a pretty famous place. In fact, according to one of the researchers, it was explored by Jacques Cousteau. Green Turtles like it there because the hole is a safe place to hide and provides easy access to the seagrass beds.


View Middle Caicos - Blue Hole in a larger map.
(http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&source=embed&msa=0&msid=104781959957579632954.00047adff0bb53528862e&ll=21.729524,-71.799431&spn=0.149577,0.308647&z=12)
Immediately upon arriving at the hole we spotted our first turtle - a huge Green! We turned quickly and tried to cut it off from the hole, just a second too late. It ducked under the boat and disappeared into the deep. There was no hope of getting that one unless it came out on its own. They need to be up on the bank in the shallow water for the rodeo method to work.

Gilbert rode on the bow of the boat where he could get a better vantage. From there he was able to spot them long before we ever could. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with it, but maybe we weren't as good at catching them because we weren't dressed in the proper turtle-catching attire. He was wearing a pair of old whitie-tighties and one rubber dishwashing glove!

Gilbert

Of the next four turtles we spotted, he nabbed three. The only one that got away made a quick maneuver under the sun's glare and we lost its trail. The first two were young Greens, and the third was a massive adult Hawksbill.

Gilbert catching turtles.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvFcVpxc39k)

Green #1: measuring curved carapace width.

Almost time for release.

A Monster Hawksbill - in the range of 30 years old and in egg bearing condition.

Measuring curved carapace width. It took a little weight on her back to keep her from crawling all over the boat.

Ready for release.

Whereas the Greens sat quietly and calmly while we took measurements and DNA samples, the Hawksbill was feisty. It kept flapping around, trying to crawl away, and snapping its jaws. The size of it was quite intimidating. Each time it reached out to bite I was thinking how easily it would be able to take off a finger. When we went to release her, she actually got hold of Dave's foot! Dave (the other fisherman helping us out today) yelped in pain, but luckily the turtle let go without much damage. She could have easily taken out a chunk of meat! You can hear when it happens in the video above. After the fact Dave joked that he wished he had thought to bite her back.

Bite mark on Dave's foot.

Green #2: posing for photos.

Green #2: on its back to measure plastron and tail.

Green #2: measuring curved carapace length.

Shortly after getting her on board, we spotted another small Green. This time it was my turn to try catching it. Gilbert called me up onto the bow and gave me instructions how to do it. He made sure to have Dave, who was driving the boat, follow the turtle for longer to make sure she was extra tired. When the moment was right Gilbert gave me the cue to jump on it. No luck. My hands sunk into the muddy bottom and there was no turtle. Twice, possibly three times, more I missed. On the final attempt I adjusted for refraction, slid my hand back and few inches and got hold! I brought it to the surface and quickly passed her off to the boat. You can hear me struggling to stay above water in the video.

Catching a Green
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPEtON-90as)

Green #3: my catch.

Jessee was up next for our final turtle of the day. She had a little trouble getting hers too, but finally did in the end. She probably would have had it on the first or second jump, but she was trying to be gentle. We didn't want to hurt them, but the truth is they are pretty rugged (as evidenced by the ones we've seen missing flippers and chunks of shell). Jessee's actually had two pieces of shell missing from the back end. They were completely healed, but at one time must have been serious wounds.

Jessee's Turn
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym4PwzigPi4)

Green #4: Jessee's catch.

Green #4: healed wound on rear of shell.

It was a great day out on the water and the best way we could have spent our last day before break. Tomorrow morning is our flight back to the States. We're headed to Florida first, then Philadelphia, Maryland, and New York. Jessee's also planning to spend a day in Boston with her sister. We're probably not going to keep up the blog while we're away, but we'll start again when we return on 2 January.

Empty Handed

This afternoon a few of us decided to make a trip up to Coast Guard in search of dinner. Our main goal was to catch some lobster, but we planned to get a few conch and possibly a fish if we had time. It was a fruitless effort. And it gave us some insight into how depleted the fisheries (at least very local fisheries) are. We couldn't even find a lobster big enough to legally take, let alone catch one. We didn't find a single conch, and so we had no bait to catch a fish. We had pasta instead. If we were cavemen, we'd be hungry.

Wild donkeys that roam up near Coast Guard.

If we swam out farther towards the breakers, I'm sure we would have had more luck, but it's quite a long ways out and better accessed by boat. We found six small lobsters, which would have been tasty, but left them to grow. Overfishing of those small ones is a major reason nobody can catch larger ones anymore. Even though we came back empty handed, it was entertainment for the evening.

Wrapping Up

Another semester comes to a close. Jessee was up early this morning (before 5am) to do the final room checks and accompany the students to Providenciales. Like usual, she stayed there for the day until all the students made their international connections and returned to South Caicos in the evening. I spent the day here helping the other staff with the various post-departure chores.


I'm sure Jessee will have more to say about it, but in all the semester went well. For me there were ups and downs between active and enjoyable times (like when the Smithsonian group was here) and down-right boring times (such as during the directed research projects when everybody else was very busy). Other than the short days, it doesn't feel like winter at all (it will be a complete shock to our systems when we return to the States next week). It was sunny and 85°F today.

The fact that it gets dark so early these days has meant a significant reduction in diving due to not having time to go after work hours. Although, since the directed research projects ended, I've managed to get out there quite a bit. I have more than 90 logged dives since arriving on South Caicos, and hopefully I'll hit the landmark 100 dives before break.

So what happens now? We'll have a few days of chores and work to do around the center, and then people will start leaving for the holidays. Actually, many are leaving for good, moving on to bigger and better things (we're really looking forward to 5 new staff members and at least 1 new non-staff "significant other" like me). We leave here on 17 December and return on 2 January, when we have tentative plans to visit Middle Caicos.

Applesauce Cake

Sunday morning Jessee volunteered to cover the "staff of the day" responsibilities for a member of staff who left early for the semester. Our cooks are off on Sundays, so part of the chore is preparing meals for the students. Jessee decided to get an early start and prepare an applesauce cake before the student kitchen crew was required to be there. It was a fateful decision.

Industrial Applesauce

About 20 minutes after leaving the room, she came back with an alarmed look on her face and blood-soaked paper towels wrapped around her hand. She'd had a bit of a mishap with an industrial sized can of applesauce. Our can opener is defective and always leaves the lids of cans partially attached. It usually takes some prying and pulling to get them completely open. In the process, her hand slipped, leaving a deep cut in the fleshy part of her hand nearest the pinky.

I had her keep pressure on the wound while I got supplies from the first aid cabinet. Once the bleeding stopped we called the Island's doctor and asked her to meet us at the clinic (they're closed on Sundays). The doctor had us contact the nurse on call and she met us at the clinic about 15 minutes later. She cleaned out the cut and told Jessee she'd need stitches. Reluctant, Jessee asked if it was possible to mend it without stitches. The nurse said it was a little too deep, but gave in to Jessee's request. That probably would have been the best time for me to intervene and encourage the stitches, but I didn't. The adhesive steri-strips that the nurse used aren't as durable and make it more difficult to keep the wound clean. Also because the adhesive closure makes it impossible to apply topical antibiotics, the nurse prescribed oral antibiotics, something both of us feel is excessive and only contributes to the rise of resistant strains of bacteria.


We talked about it that evening and decided to go back to the clinic this morning. It turns out, however, stitches must be put in during the first 24 hours or they can't be put in at all. So we spent nearly two hours in the waiting room to get done what we could have done on our own. In fact, when we got back, I cleaned it out a little more and reapplied adhesive closures. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures to post and none of the carnage (I thought it would have been insensitive to delay the run to clinic to get pictures for the blog).

In the end, she still made the cake.

Mouse in the Kitchen

Last night I rescued a mouse from our kitchen. It fell into our deep sink and couldn't get back out. I wanted to keep it as a pet, but that probably wouldn't have gone over well with the others. I released it outdoors, about 100 feet from the kitchen. By now, though, it's probably found its way back inside.

Trapped

Gotcha!

Underwater Photos

Here's a slideshow of some of the underwater photos I took during October and November:


(http://picasaweb.google.com/bmatulis/SouthCaicosOctNov2009?feat=directlink)

A couple of my favorites:

Black Jack

Cero Mackerel

Catdog

In the last post Jessee mentioned that the students even made a "hand turkey" for Catdog. But I'm pretty sure we've never introduced him on the blog. Catdog or, sometimes, Gatoperro is just like many of the other dogs on the island, except he happens to be a cat.

Catdog

He and Bruno are the only animals accepted by SFS. He's pretty self-sufficient, coming and going as he pleases, but always returning for affection. It's not unusual to hear him meowing outside our door -- his signal that it is time to give him attention. I usually respond because Jessee is allergic.

Stalking

His favorite activities include ridding the kitchen of rats and mice, chasing and unfortunately sometimes catching birds (some as big as he is), and acting as if he doesn't care that you want to pet him (even though he really does).

Catdog

Thanksgiving Weekend

Happy Turkey Day!

We celebrated a very festive, although not at all traditional, Thanksgiving this year. Our cooks, Izzy and Antonia, really outdid themselves with an elaborate and delicious buffet of food!

The Feast

The students decorated our dining area with fall-colored leaves and hand turkeys for everyone here at the center (including Bruno and Catdog). Mine featured a decorated cake because I'm known for making them on students' birthdays and various other occassions. Brett's featured his big black Crocs, which he leaves by the volleyball court during games so that anyone who needs to go fetch a ball out of bounds can slip them on and avoid get stuck with acacia thorns. (As his shoes are at least 6 sizes too big for everyone else, however, this can be pretty entertaining to watch!)

Brett's hand turkey

My hand turkey

Some of the students and I also made pies for our Thanksgiving dessert. I think spending time in the kitchen is part of the tradition for some of them, and so they asked to help out.

Pretty fall colors

We didn't have any cans of pumpkin, and therefore couldn't make the pie they most wanted to, but we improvised with what we had and came out with 5 apple pies (thanks to my dad's scrumptiously foolproof recipe) and 5 sweet potato pies in the end.

Sweet potato pies

Apple pies

Brett impressed everyone with his expert lattice designs, and then inspired some of the students to try it for themselves. All in all, it was a very happy holiday with lots to be thankful for.

Last night, we celebrated (and expressed our thanks) all over again. For the second time this semester, we hosted a dinner for folks in town. This one was in honor of all of our "Business and Community Partners". This included school teachers, shop owners, developers, fishermen, and folks who have been interviewed by our students for their various research projects, among others. (The previous community dinner was in recognition of government officials, e.g. police, clinic, post office, treasury, immigration, etc.)

A centerpiece

Students serving our guests

We decorated our tables with flowers, conch shells, and candles, and put on our nicest outfits. I think everyone had a good time talking and mingling, and it was nice to be able to show our appreciation for the folks here who are especially welcoming and helpful. Also, as our Center Director pointed out, it was a chance to remind ourselves that we are visitors on this island being hosted by the local community. Last evening, for a few short hours, we got to return the favor.

Sweet appreciation from the students

Food-Boat Day

I wish every day was food-boat day. Every other Tuesday a shipment comes in from Florida. In the days leading up to it, we usually eat things like macaroni & cheese or hot dogs. In the days after it we have things like salad, steamed carrots and broccoli, kiwis, bananas, yogurt, Cheerios, and occasionally a free sample of fancy little frozen desert cakes.

Before

After

Almost nothing, agricultural or manufactured goods, is produced in TCI. It is all shipped in at huge expense, inconvenience, and use of fossil fuels. On South Caicos, nothing would grow. The soil is only a few inches thick above sandstone and almost entirely sand, and much of it is full of salt from the salinas. Fresh water is also scarce. I've read that conditions are slightly better on Middle Caicos, but the crops they have don't do very well. After the American Revolution, a community of exiled Loyalists settled here and attempted cotton and sugar cane plantations, but apparently they were never that productive and were abandoned after a trade blockade during the War of 1812 and a severe hurricane. I'm not sure exactly why we don't get more locally produced seafoods, but it is probably cost related and just easier to cook processed foods - regrettable, but I can't complain because I don't pay for it.

So what keeps the TCI economy going? On South its mainly conch and lobster exports. On Grand Turk there's a little tourism, but it's mostly government. On Provo its finance. The sort of "finance" you'd like to hide from the eyes of regulatory agencies at home. There's also high-end luxury tourism on Provo (i.e. places where you can find a room for $10,000 per night) as a consequence of the offshore finance. The financial sector has, of course, suffered most directly from the recession, but I'm unsympathetic.

And One More Thing...

Jessee thought it would excessive since she already wrote a post today, but I took it upon myself to get everybody to sing before we ate the cake tonight (see the video below). Happy birthday Marilyn.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgc7pR7yB9A)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday, but I don't know what to do for her. I can't take her out to lunch, as we're about 2,000 miles apart, and I can't buy her a gift I think she'd like, as there really aren't any stores here on South. Even if I mailed her a card, it likely wouldn't get there until Easter. I think... I'll bake her a cake.

Maybe I'll make it a marble cake

Without the marbling effect

I know, I know, my mom won't actually get to eat the cake. (Sorry Mom, if this gesture is only a tease!) But, it's the thought that counts, right? This way she'll know that I've been thinking about her today. And I'm confident I'll be able to convince the staff and students here at SFS to agree to eat the birthday cake on her behalf, purely out of the generosity of their hearts of course!

Happy birthday to you...

Happy birthday to you...

Happy birthday, dear Marilyn...

Happy Birthday to you!

p.s. I love you.
p.p.s. That's supposed to be the Bahama Woodstar hummingbird I keep telling you about.

Bruno

I figure it's about time we introduce Bruno to the blog. I think Brett's written before about the sad situation of numerous stray, and sometimes even aggressive, dogs here. He may have also mentioned the local custom of throwing rocks at dogs who bark too loudly or follow you down the street or growl and nip at your ankles. The two of us don't partake of that custom, but we do occasionally pick up rocks and hold them up threateningly to chase off particularly aggressive or territorial dogs that seem dangerous or just won't let us pass them on the street. (All of the dogs around here know very clearly what a rock held up in the air means, and they whimper and run off before actually releasing it becomes necessary.)

"Bruno", formerly known as "Bingo"

It's sad for me, as a dog-lover, to have such an antagonistic relationship with the ones who live here on the island. I think about how it isn't really their fault that they're so hostile. After all, they lead rough lives, are forced to scavenge for food and fresh water, and put up with a range of mistreatment from neglect to downright cruelty. Over the past few years, members of the SFS community have handled "the stray dog issue" in very different ways, and it's caused quite a lot of controversy. Some staffers used to secretly sneak food and blankets out to the strays that lingered behind the back porch. This, however, resulted in the dogs growing loyal and protective of the SFS community. They'd follow us into town and bark at anyone who came close to us. The locals who got barked at, in turn, were furious with us for letting "our" dogs threaten them and disturb their peace. They've even accused us of training the dogs to be racist, and to bark only at black people. Apparently once, before Brett and I arrived here, a local guy brought a big, vicious dog to the center so that it would fight with one of the dogs that had done the barking, and another time a man ran over one of "our" dogs with his truck out of spite.

Other staffers have taken quite a different approach, wanting no association at all with the loud, dirty, allegedly racist beggars, and have instead become renowned for their merciless rock launching skills. While the locals are generally in favor of this practice, it's more than a little upsetting for the animal lovers and pacifists among the staff and students at the SFS center. So... we currently have a sort of compromise in place. We have adopted one dog, Bruno, who sits outside the center day in and day out, looking forward to any sign of affection that is headed his way. All other dogs, however, are not to be fed, petted, or allowed on SFS property at all. This arrangement seems to appease the staff and students who love animals and miss their pets from home, and feel terrible about throwing the occasional rock at a particularly nasty dog in town, as well as those who don't like dogs at all, or who just don't want the entire dog-human dynamic of the island messed with.

Mmm.. kitchen scraps

Bruno gets fed certain kitchen scraps like bread or chicken bones (which would apparently be choking hazards for the typical Rover or Fido living in the States, but are no match for the hearty digestive system of a South Caicos mutt) on a fairly regular basis. He's not allowed inside the center, which he understands and abides by, but he also doesn't follow us into town very often, mostly because he's too old and skinny and hungry most of the time to be bothered. He also doesn't bark at people who come visit us for the most part, although we did have to calm him down a bit at our community dinner last week when hosted almost 100 folks from town all at once. Saturday afternoon, however, Bruno was in heaven because some of the students decided to give him a bath. I'm sure it pulled when they tried to comb his matted dreads, which were caked with a decade's worth of sand and grime, but he LOVES attention however he can get it!

Wash, rinse...

... and repeat.

What a good (clean) boy!