Day five began a little later than usual as we were given a very rare late start to the day, meaning we didn’t have to wake up until 7:45. This granted a lot of necessary rest to all of us extremely tired individuals, including no AMX for the first time since our arrival. Sausage, hard-boiled eggs, and English muffins were served up for breakfast, which was a welcome change from the cereal, granola, and yogurt of past days.
Soon after breakfast, the two groups, Night Herons and Eagle Rays, split off towards their respective activities for the day. Us Night Herons began to prepare for the Sea Turtle research that was to take place further up the island at Winding Bay, which was very shallow and cold. Even before that, we took a quick detour to the world-famous Rock Sound Ocean Hole, which was over 600 feet deep and 300,000 years old, but we only touched the surface by jumping in off a small cliff.
With the help of our resident turtle expert, Rachael Miller, we were taught the proper technique for corralling sea turtles. We began using our seine nets by bringing one pole into deeper waters and leaving one pole in the shallows to create a wall of net that could be pulled into shore in an attempt to catch a sea turtle.
After one attempt we decided to grab a quick lunch of sandwiches and chips in order to recharge for the next couple hours of research. A further 7 attempts were made after lunch with repeated failures, but with the 8th and final attempt, a catch was made with the help of a change in technique. We had finally caught a Green Sea Turtle that had eluded us for most of the day, and proceeded to give it a little Cleveland flair by naming it Lebron. We took our measurements including carapace length, head width, and many others, and decided to call it a day.
Meanwhile, the Eagle Rays were spending the day furthering the conch research that the Night Herons had performed a day earlier, but at multiple different beaches. Out of many dead Conch shells, 6 juvenile conchs were found, with 5 of them residing at Fourth Hole Beach, the shore of an abandoned golf course. The conditions were very rough from the wind, which made it very hard for those in the water to identify the conch shells that were being covered by the tossed up sediment. It was rough, but nonetheless worth it because it was for the good of the Queen Conch.
After we had a dinner of lentil soup, pita, and hummus, we headed over to the boathouse for some algae research. While our instructor, Liz, taught us about the ecology of oceanic algae, we were given our very own samples to examine from the artificial reefs laid down by the school. Contrary to our early beliefs, there was an unbelievable amount of different phylums and species hidden within the red algae, including crabs, worms, shrimp, and some other unrecognizable organisms.
We are all very tired, so it’s time to say goodnight. Speak to you tomorrow.
Miss you,
Ethan and Katarina
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