Séptima Semana / Seventh Week

As have been so many moments here in Vieques, Monday night was unforgettable. Mark surprised us by bringing my mum, aunt and me to the National Wildlife Refuge at Caracas beach where about two dozen rescued baby leatherback turtles were being released.

Como tantos momentos aquí en Vieques, el noche del lunes era unolvidable. Mark nos sorprendió y nos trajo al Refugio National en la playa de Caracas donde como veinte tortugas laúd rescados serían liberados.

 

Two baby leatherbacks determinedly making their way to the sea, carried by tiny flippers but great determination / Dos tortugitas caminando al mar con patas pequeñas pero con determinación grande

It took my breath away to watch these tiny little creatures, one by one, making their way to the expansive sea that lay before them. Some fearlessly made a bee-line for the water as soon as they were placed onto the sand, then paddled like their lives depended on it (which is quite accurate!) until the rolling waves lapped them up and carried them out of sight. Others were less coordinated and struggled to get their flippers straightened out before setting off in the direction of the shoreline. They looked so vulnerable, their bodies smaller than the palm of my hand and protected only by a soft shell that wouldn't toughen up until adulthood. (Leatherbacks do not grow a hard, bony shell like other turtle species, but adults do have sturdy, rubbery, streamlined shells for protection). 

And the truth is that many will never make it to adulthood at all. It is estimated of every one thousand eggs that are laid by a mother leatherback, one hatchling will make it to adulthood. * 

So what can we do to help? Well, here's my shameless environmental plug for the turtles.

- Support your city or town's efforts to reduce light pollution, which means using lamps that do not shine light upwards towards the sky; the artificial glow in the sky at night can confuse the turtles and they may head in the wrong direction when they hatch

- Pick up your trash and plastic bags, or if you can, pick up someone else's! The turtles mistake them for jellyfish, their favorite food, if they find them floating in the ocean. We can all help by picking up and throwing away at least one piece of trash each time we go to the beach.

- It goes without saying: please, don't support poachers who hunt turtles or their eggs.

Leatherback turtles, as a species, have been living on the earth for more than 100 million years, so let's not be the reason these beautiful animals disappear!

* Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/leatherback-sea-turtle/

I also learned a lot about the leatherbacks from Hong, a visiting scientist who shared the lab with us for several weeks this summer! Here she is, studying some leatherbacks that never hatched

Hong, from the University of Southern Maine (15 minutes from my home!), letting me watch her dissection of leatherback turtles. They were of course found dead; she would never cause harm to a living turtle. / Una científica del University of Southern Maine (¡15 minutos de mi casa!) que me permitió ver cuando hizo disecciones de tortugitas (por supuesto, los encontró muerto y nunca haría daño a tortugas vivos)

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As if the leatherback turtle experience was not amazing enough, the rest of the week was full of adventures and surprises as well.

My aunt at Cayo Afuera after swimming all the way there with me / Mi tía, después de nadar a Cayo Afuera conmigo

My mum, who went with us by kayak to Cayo Afuera / Mi mamá, quien fue con nosotros en kayak a Cayo Afuera

Sunday one of the most fun days I have had all summer--the last day of Patronales, which is the island's week-long festival. As I was walking back from work one day the week before, one of our Manta students asked if I wanted to come see the costumes they were making behind one of the local restaurants using. They were actually extremely impressive, and made almost entirely of recycled materials! By the time I left that afternoon, I had been convinced to join the parade. So there I was on Sunday, dancing through the streets of Vieques to the tune of "Under the Sea" dressed as a sea turtle. Looking back, maybe I could have felt mortified by the crowds of people lining the streets taking pictures and watching my silly dance moves, but actually I felt entirely happy, whole, and honored to be a part of such an amazing community. 

The fabulous Under the Sea team / El equipo fabuloso "Debajo del mar"