October 2009 - Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9
I can tell you that ditch-digging in this environment would not
be my first chosen calling! That task fell to the volunteer seen
leaning on his shovel while speaking with the WWF
coordinators of the project.
Camouflage crab close up
Lastly there are beautiful little crabs which camouflage so
incredibly well that you really cannot find them until you learn
to look for the shadow they cast upon the sand. A world of
beauty at one’s feet.
Alas even Bowdy, the high jumping, sand catching hound who
had adopted us (whom you may call to mind from last month)
departed and left me quite alone with the wind, the stars, the
full moon and the ever crashing surf.
Will Las Baulas come tonight?
Incubation zone
Quadrants had been laid out with string within the fenced area
with labels to identify individual nests relocated here from
along the 5.6 km stretch of beaches involved in the conservation
project.
Data is collected to ensure optimal hatches and the plastic
corrals which protected against predators also permitted official
counts to be taken. The nest temperature by the way needs to be
kept at 29.5 Celsius to ensure a gender balance in the babies,
along with regular freshwater dousing to maintain a proper
humidity level within the sand.
Nest relocation site
As time slipped by I found myself gazing into the little fenced
compound wherein the hope of future turtle generations
incubated. I had inspected it earlier in the light of day
identifying that it begged to be close to the waves so the
hatchlings could sense their way to open water and of course it
was crucial to embrace the tropical sun in order to warm the
nests within. Its proximity to the waves however meant that
someone needed to intermittently re-buttress the perimeter
which kept washing away.
Measuring temperature in the nest
In the 18 month study period there may have been only 17
confirmed leatherback nestings, but there were 380 Baula
neonates born into the project. Add that to the 1452 black turtles
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