TURTLE PARTY!

Hi everyone, 

The 6:30 wake-up call came early this morning. We all hopped on bikes and pedaled off to the notorious "High Rock." After an almost two-mile bike ride we came to the end of the road (much like the end of the sidewalk but less mysterious), and there it was. High Rock. We all rushed to the edge and were immediately concerned by the apparent boulders below. Our fears were quelled when we were shown the correct jumping form by Stan. The technique wasn’t too hard to master, but finding the courage to fling yourself into the ocean was a totally different story. Everyone faced the mighty jump with gusto and enthusiasm. After sapphire blue hole the other day this jump was a lot more manageable, for some.

Peering over the edge of High Rock, ready to take the plunge!

Devlin's cannonball off of High Rock!

After a quick breakfast, everyone hurried to the boathouse for what was sure to be one of our most exciting days yet – we were going "turtling," which means trying to catch sea turtles! The turtle team joined us on the boats, and soon we were off across the open sea. The ride to Starved Creek (which is much more lively than the name suggests) was long and rather rough, but our arrival was met with many smiles. After a quick explanation of the turtle capturing method, called “rodeo”, the first small boat was sent off. The little boat contained two turtle researchers and five students. The sea turtle would be run down by the boat, and when it began to tire and slow, a student would dive in and swim after it. The goal was to catch up to the turtle and lift it out of the water as it was coming up for a breath. Many chases and boat swaps later, we had five sea turtles on board. The researchers demonstrated how they take the measurements necessary for their studies, and everyone who wanted to got to hold a turtle!

 Olivia the turtle researcher showing us the first turtle we captured and how they tag turtles. 

This is how we kept (all 5!) turtles safely on the boat; upside down in a life jacket! 

This calmed them down and also made sure we didn't release and immediately recapture the same turtle. 

Green Sea Turtle close-up!

All 5 Green Sea Turtles resting on deck!

Check out those of us who wanted to hold the turtles! 

On our way back in, we had one of those incredible Island School moments. As we were pulling into the docks we had to be super careful because the local manatee was paying a visit. The manatee was putting on a special show for us; it kept coming up to breathe and splashed Mrs. Becker and Whitney in the face with its exhale. We spent some time just watching the manatee do its thing. After we had our fill of the manatee we had some free time. Most of us used our free time to get clean and shiny for our big night out on the town; some of us even put on a clean shirt! We made our way to intern presentations before we went out for dinner. The presentations were given by Cape Eleuthera Institute interns who have spent the last couple of months focusing on a specific project. They were all super impressive and it was exciting to see them share their work. After the presentations we went to Sharil’s. Sharil’s is an amazing little restaurant right off campus. We had everything from fried chicken and fried lionfish (what a fun and delicious way of taking care of a such an invasive species) to mac and cheese, sweet corn, and ribs. The feast was devoured in under 15 minutes interspersed with talk of the day, and what a legend Helen is for both catching a turtle and breaking an apple in half with her bare hands. The day lasted forever in the best way possible. We are starting to realize how little time we have left and are both savoring every sunset and counting down the dish crews until we are back in the 216.

The view of the manatee from the edge of the dock!

Dinner at Sharil's!

Don’t miss us too much!

~Annie and Angelina