12/10
I had a hard section today, it was from Jacobz to Wobiri. We separate beaches into several sections and divide each section into 3 to 4 subsections. Each section’s length varies form 800m to 3500m. When it comes to Jacobz, everybody thinks about the long distance if the access road which I think may be 800m long. Natalie told me she found 33 nests and 22 false crawls in the same section yesterday. She couldn’t finish it on time. Although I am happy to see turtle nests, 33 nests are too many for me.
The landscape in this section is full of sand dunes which are as high as 2 storey buildings. Sometimes turtles will climb up to the sand dunes and nest on the other side of them. Wind in this section is strong and the sand is easily blown away by the wind. That makes it harder to identify the tracks. Most of the tracks are emerge in the side close to the sea and disappearing on the top of the sand dunes. You have to climb up and follow the tracks to the other side of the sand dunes. It is hard to climb up a high sand dune that sometimes may be almost perpendicular to the land!! If it is hard for me to climb, it is harder for a turtle to climb.
I climbed up to trace the turtle tracks and slid down to mark the emerging and returning tracks. I found a track that was almost 200m in length!!! When I climbed up to the top of the sand dune, I could hardly to see the end of this track. I put down my backpack and followed it, marking it every 15m. I was frustrated because the track disappeared in the bushes eventually and I couldn’t find it any more. I had to go back to the place I put my backpack and examined the other side of the sand dune.
Fortunately, I found two turtles still nesting on the beach. I followed one of them and took photos and videos when she was crawling back to the sea. She was a huge green turtle. Green turtle move their bodies with their front and rear flipper simultaneously so their tracks look like the track of a tiny tank. Their flippers are designed for swimming but not crawling, they look heavy and weighty on the beach. They will crawl for a few paces, take a rest, breathe and then keep going. It seems like a solider crawling in the trench to silently approach an enemy but not quite so tense. It is a combination of a solider ‘s movement and the mental relaxation as enjoying the morning coffee. When I followed her and took video whilst she was crawling back to the sea, I felt all my tiredness had gone.
I waited on the road for a long time because others were trying to rescue the turtles stuck in the rocks. Some of the beaches have rocks on the shore and the turtle get stuck easily when they finish nesting and try to crawl back to the sea in the low tide. If we saw a turtle stuck in the rock, we had to check the tide sheet. If there were becoming a high tide, the turtle could rescue itself. But if the tides were going lower and lower, the turtle might die from dehydration. We have to move these turtles out of the rocks and send them back to the sea.
We saw 4 turtles stuck in the rocks this morning. When I came back to my lovely villa, I was totally exhausted. But the best part was that all the turtles had returned to the sea safely.
Yesterday was Patricia’s birthday. We prepared ice cream cakes, abirthday card and present for her. In the birthday card, I drew a picture of her from a photo that I took when we were on the Lakeside beach. I sketched her outline and colored it. I think I did a great job because everyone said I have a knack for drawing.
When I was little, I liked to read comic books and draw pictures on my textbook. I drew pictures over almost all my book. But when I entered in university, I stopped drawing. Maybe there was no space on my university’s textbooks or maybe I was too old to draw pictures.
“A man is not old until regrets takes place of dreams.” I brought a sketchbook and pencils with me. I think drawing a picture of Patricia is a good beginning. I hope I can draw more pictures in the future.
