Blog Entry Six

Blog Week 6:

This week was groundbreaking  as well as heartbreaking.  Early in the day we set out to go do about ten turtle nest excavations. Starting on the beach Anse Jose, the first excavation we did was unsuccessful. When you find unhatched eggs after the nest is empty, the eggs are opened and put into a category:

Undeveloped

Stage One

Stage Two

Predated

Predated beyond recognition

Every single egg out of the 167 laid in the nest were undeveloped. This nest had no bacteria or any signs of outside influence on the eggs, they just never grew.

After this nest, we continued to find another whereas in the nest was another set of unhatched eggs. In this of 171, we found six hatched eggs. The rest were  stage three (an almost completely developed hatching with a slight embryo remaining). This nest was buried deep under a layer of what we thought at first were to be roots, but as we opened the eggs we found that these white fiberous roots were actually a type of fungi  that burrows through the shell of the eggs and wraps itself around the turtle, restricting it from growing  and causing it to die.

When we opened these, however,  all of  them were stage one (where there is a visible embryo the size of a grain of rice) but when a "healthy" egg is opened, the entire content should be yellow whereas these eggs had a pink bacteria growing in them.  This bacteria was found in a different nest a few weeks earlier and when none of the specialists on the island could identify it, it was sent to a research lab in Europe. The results are yet to be conclusive but the bacteria is thought to have been feeding on the fluids inside the eggs, barely giving it the chance to grow. This became a more current issue when six of the ten nests excavated that day were found with unhatched eggs containing the same bacteria.

After these unsuccessful nests, the next days were spent in the mangroves. In this, we would rope off a 10x10 foot parameter where as inside you would count the number of mangroves, labeling them by species and by stage of life (juvenile, seedling, mature). This might seem like an easy task but when there are about 400 trees in the same area, it is easy to loose count. 

Lastly, I got the chance to see the bioluminescent plankton that glow in the light during the night. Although I'm not studying them, the chance to seem them was exciting and it was beautiful.

Blog Entry Five

7:01 AM

Blog Week 5:

I started this week off with a hike to through the mountains of Praslin to spend the day replanting the palms that were lost in the fire in 1998.  The fire started because the local fishermen felt that without the vegetation, the walk from one end of the island to the other would become much more simple. Although successful in making it an easier hike, that fire destroyed over seven endemic tree and/or plant populations. A group known as TRAS (The Terrestrial Recreation Association of the Seychelles) is dedicated to replanting the lost species on the island. So my volunteer group took the day off from baby turtles and shark tracking to plant saplings along a 1000 meter stretch of land in the mountains.

The following days included hikes to the four major beaches in order to continue the excavations of the hatched sea turtle nests. But what we found one of these days wasn't any hatchlings, rather two Hawksbill turtles laying their nests. It is rare to have nesting mothers this late in the season so coming across two was extraordinary! When it comes to collecting data on laying mothers, it must be done quickly and quietly. They go into a trans-like state in which during their trans you must measure them, both length and width, tag both the front flippers if they are yet to be tagged, take a DNA sample from their back flipper and (if you see them nesting early enough) count the eggs as she starts to lay them. (In the photos, I am counting eggs and measuring width.)

Finally at the end of the week, I got the chance to track the location of the sonar tagged shark (Little Kalina). It was exciting to see that she was healthy, swimming from in the mangroves out to the ocean on a daily basis.

Blog Entry Four

Blog Entry 4:

What have I learned this week? If I'm told I'm going to be hiking over Mount Cueriuese in order to reach Anse Manderine, as the vegetation type so that I am better prepared to walk through the razor palm population with long pants on rather than shorts. Other than that though, it was a very productive week. After a break in the action when it came to catching sharks, on Tuesday morning, I single-handedly caught the only shark that has been seen in the last two weeks. The shark was the first on this population to receive a sonar tag which allows it to be tracked continuously at any time or location. This will allow for a better understanding of how the juvenile lemon sharks grow and behave. The tagging was successful and the shark (named Little Kalina after its capturer) is still a success story. 

The rest of the week, I got the chance to release more of the hatchings into the ocean, sometimes up to eight at a time. We did, at one point, find an entire unreleased nest whereas there was at least 150 baby turtles in the sand but we had to cover them again because it is crucial for the turtles to reach the ocean on their own so they can imprint on the beach to return when they lay their own eggs. Although it is so exciting to be able to watch the hatchlings escape their holes and make their way to the beach, it is also sad to find not so successful nests. This week we found 2 nests, one where not a single egg in the nest developed and another where half the hatchlings in the nest had died in the process of getting out of the sand because the water was too high and forced the sand down on them, suffocating them. It's not pleasurable to find but it's important to research. 

One thing we did find though was an unhatched egg that didn’t make it past the third stage of development. Surprisingly the hatchling was an albino which isn't crucial for data collection, I just thought it was cool.

Other than that, this week I got the chance to count the newly born giant tortoises, which you would never believe grow from the size of your palm to the size of about double my torso. They aren't the smartest animals in the world but they are really cute.

Here are some of the pictures from the leper colony that I'm residing in:

Blog Entry Three

Week 3:

This week was a new and exciting experience that makes me look forward to the beginning of the week tomorrow. I begun my week traveling to Curieuse and moving into my new home. The volunteers living on this island (to my surprise) live inside the buildings on the old Leper hospital. Living conditions are minimal, my section of the hospital that I live in has no doors, but I am not complaining because there is a wonderful ocean breeze at night that the more fortunate people with doors miss out on. The days begin with waking up at six, eating breakfast and heading out.

Monday (just my luck) I got scheduled to stay on base to cook, so I missed out but the following day, we trekked to Grand Anse to find the success rate of the turtle nests that should've hatched in the previous week. This was exciting because out of the 197 eggs laid, 195 of them hatched, which is an extremely high success rate in comparison to the 65% hatching success rate in the hawksbill sea turtle in the Seychelles. The interesting thing about the sea turtles in the Seychelles is that they are the only hatchlings in the world that hatch during the day due to the fact that their only predator is the land crab which is primarily nocturnal. I did get the chance to see some of the hatchlings make their way to the ocean and I've seen something so adorable! (pictures to come)

On Tuesday, I spent the day in the mangroves, learning the different species and how they live and adapt with the change in sea water temperature. Next week, we will be putting in a Quad where as we measure an amount of space every 6 months to determine the change in species in that space to see those that are successful and those that are not.

On Wednesday, I began my day with waking up at four o'clock in the morning in hopes to go catch a shark in order to tag it for the first time with a tag that allows you to track their movement patterns. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful, but we plan to go out again on Monday morning to attempt on another shark. We did, however, get the chance to dissect a shark that didn't make it through the final stages of birth.

On Thursday, I spent my day measuring more beach levels on four on the different beaches on the island. Finally, on Friday, I spent my morning with a few other volunteers walking the Giant Tortoises back to their pen for the weekend and if you thought herding cattle was hard...

In the first week alone on this island I've learned so many things already. Not only am I learning about the wildlife and ecosystems but the other volunteers that I am working with are from all over the world so not only am I learning Seychellois culture but I am also getting a global education in a way. I am definitely excited to see what the next week has to bring.

Blog Entry Two

Week 2 (Jan. 30- Feb. 3)

This week was one for the books. I spent the week on the island La Digue which is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. On this island I had the chance to submerge myself in the Seychellois culture. I spent the week living with a local family, having the chance to discuss the changes they have seen over the years. On this island there is no cars. Transportation is strictly bikes and carts pulled by oxen. I learned the way that the amount of trash was getting so out of hand that the local fishermen were finding suffocated sea turtles and fish scattered over the beaches everywhere. Recently, the island has become much more strict on the littering because the oceans are such a cherished gem for the local people. Some of the locals who have never left this island, 9 kilometers long, took the time to show me the hidden paradises on this island, including Anse Coco, a beach that was a four hour hike there but such a stunning sight. Its burdening to learn about the chance that has been noticeable, like the changing water temperature that has killed much of the fish population and bleached most of the coral reefs. I was able to measure the change in water levels here and the amount of beach lost in the last 10 years was roughly six feet. I learned that almost 90% of the corals reefs in the Seychelles have been declared dead due to the rapid change in water climate. I met so many wonderful people when I was there, being able to pick up a game of soccer on the beach with the local kids. I learned the common art of how to fish for octopus, although I was unable to catch any.

This research project, although only a third of the way done, has become so much more to me than just researching the wildlife on these islands. It has given me the chance to learn and grow as a person in a totally different culture. The many people I've met so far have been beyond nice in helping me and making my experience in the Seychelles the best it could be. I also made more canine friends than I could ever imagine!

Tomorrow I embark on my next adventure to the island Curieuse, where I will be spending the majority of the rest of the time I have left here in the Seychelles. This island is a national reserve so it will be just me and the other people accompanying me with conducting all this research. I got a brief history lesson about Curieuse from the man I was staying with. On that island is where the French used to send those with leprosy. There is a hospital on the island built for the patients that is now preserved as a historical marker. Many of the locals never travel to the island due to the legends of it being haunted.

I think the next four weeks contain a unique experience for me and I look forward to what will come next.

Blog Entry One

Week One (Jan. 23-27):

This week included mostly measuring ocean levels from low and high tide. This means measuring the distance from the beginning of the beach line to the water line at both the highest tide and the lowest tide. I did this on beaches on the three islands, Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue to see how the location of the islands may change the amount of beach lost with rising ocean levels. I found that the worst case of beach loss was on the northwest coast of Praslin, whereas during high tide, there is no beach left. The locals have built rock piles in attempt to keep the water from diminishing the land behind the houses but have found that as the water levels continue to rise, the rocks will become obsolete. Many houses along this coast are already vacant in preparation for this unstoppable water rising.

Other than this, I had a proper introduction the giant tortoises that I will dedicate a lot of my time to in the next month. They're big.

I've sent time in the rain forests on Praslin marking trees to avoid the poaching  of the Coco de Mer. The Coco de Mer is like a giant coconut, about the size of my torso, that is the national symbol for the Seychelles. The issue is, although it is illegal, many of the native people want to harvest them to tell to tourists or use for their homes, etc. This becomes an issues because the seeds take seven years to become fully grown and when people are cutting them down at such an alarming rate, the Coco de Mer trees don’t have the time or resources to regenerate. What we did was mark the trees, each with a specific number and counted the number of seeds each tree had. We will return in a week or two to see if the numbers stay constant or if there is poaching in that area. 

The Seychelles is one on the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The people of the Seychelles have recently enforced a policy to keep their islands clean from pollution due to the effects it has on their oceans.

Introduction Blog

My project is the conservation of species in the islands on the Seychelles. I start my project on the island of Mahe and then travel to Praslin and La Digue. On these islands in the first ten days on my project I will be collecting the data of the beach levels to see the changes of oceans levels in comparison to previous years. Afterwards, I will travel to the island Curieuse where I will spend the last month of my time away for my project. Here, I will collect the majority of my research on the Coco de Mer, mangroves, beach levels, sea turtles, land tortoises, birds, sickle-fin lemon sharks.  After I complete my research in the Seychelles, I plan to obtain the research collected by this group in previous years and compare it to what I find in my research. On top of this, I will compare the changes that I found with the data collected in other islands such as Hawaii, Malicious, the Philippines etc.  I think that this is an important topic to research because global warming is a pressing issue and the effects that the changes global warming causes to species on tropical islands. I think it is also important to talk to the local people in the Seychelles and see how these changes in the environment effect their lives.

My in-school advisor is Mr. Bayer, who was very enthusiastic about the idea of my research project. My one-site advisor is Brooklyn Norton, who has done the research trip I am doing twice, works now for the research group I am working with.