Last night was my last beach patrol. I chose 1.30-5am. It might seem mad but I kind of like that time – I like seeing the day begin at 5am as that is when all the wildlife wake up. All kinds of birds and the Howler Monkeys.

The beach was lit by moonlight once again. The tide was coming in fast and because it was full moon the tide was going to be higher than usual so we had to walk higher up the beach on the dry sand; a bit of a workout on the legs, especially after riding a horse earlier in the day.

It was amazing though on a moonlit beach, the waves crashing and occasional lightning over the sea.

On the first sweep of the beach we found what looked like a nest, but it turned out to be a false nest ( where the turtle has started digging a nest but hasn’t laid any eggs) and also the previous group had found this nest earlier. ( they sent the coordinates on a WA message )

So we did 3 sweeps of the beach then on the 4th sweep one of our group suddenly stopped and pointed – there was a turtle right there in front of us making a nest.

The Turtle was digging but she had put her nest too close to the shore and the tide came up and flooded where she was. She then decided that wasn’t a good place so turned round to go back to the sea. We had to grab her and measure her and check if she was tagged. She had been tagged the previous day and had then also not laid any eggs.

So at least I saw my final adult turtle which I was pleased about.

Then we had to head home along the path and the road. Because the tide was in and higher than usual, the path was very flooded – at one point we we wading for quite a while waist high in water. A snake joined us in the water but fortunately it was a mangrove snake and not poisonous 🐍 we didn’t really know what else was in there with us so tried to get through as fast as we could; holding our rucksacks above our heads so they didn’t get wet.

The trousers I was wearing were heavier than the linen ones I usually wear so they did not dry out on the way home, but I guess it all added to the excitement of the last trip

Memories that will stay with me forever 🐢💖🌊

Yesterdays Joke

What do turtles do on their birthday ?

Answer… they Shellibrate it

Todays joke…..

What does a turtle need to wear when he rides a bike?