Raine Island - Nature's Cradle on the Edge of the Coral Sea
Satellite Web Cast From Turtle Heaven and Hell
Journal Entry - 12 - 20 - 02 - Last Full Day
Well we did it! We spent the night on the island. Ian Bell's idea. Our overseer conservation officer full of dumb ideas. Of course he and Jeremy Hogarth were well equipped. Ian had less padding than I - he is a real Tarzan type - and Jeremy had a double wide directors swag (Aussie sleeping bag) with sheets. I had my thermal rest pad and a top sheet. I was relegated to the outer circle to fend off the centipedes and scorpions. I swear I didn't sleep at all. Ian swears he awoke to fend off an errant turtle about to run us over and heard me snoring - I don't snore. Just ask my spouse.
What was amazing was that the birds do shut up. At 1:00 a.m. they were silent. The frigates and boobies were riding the wind over three supine forms, the wind blowing as always, you could just make out the waves crashing on the shore line and above it all the beautiful golden full moon hanging over the tower, the oldest man made structure in tropical Queensland. Interestingly, when you are standing up the birds glide in above you at 3-5 meters (12-15 feet) now they were at one and half to two meters (four to six feet). The scene at the base of the tower was beautiful with the frigates in the air in the full moon light.
At dawn Ian was up with a shout as though he had never been to bed. My dive booties which I had carefully placed over the giant spider hole - no doubt deadly funnel web spider - were in a different position. They had been moved by the monster arachnid living in the borrow next to my sleeping nest. Oh well, at least it chose not visit my sheet. Actually there aren't any on the island.
Time to make pictures of the tower in the dawn light. I also managed to find a very calm turtle which allowed me to photograph her from close distance while she made her way to the water. As long as I stayed right at sand level she literally crawled right through me as though I was not there. At no time did she show any sign of stress or attempt to change her direction.
Later, on the way back to the boat, Ian, I, and several others doing some filming helped save a couple of turtles which had become trapped in the rock found near the tower. Ian and I then headed for the boat where sanity waited in the form of a shower and breakfast. When Richard and the film crew returned they got organized and we started a burley slick to attract tiger sharks in an effort to tag another one. We spent the rest of the day waiting. Finally in the late afternoon not one, but we believe three appeared. But they also knew what they were doing and never took the bait. They nibbled and pulled pieces off but never took enough to take the hook. No sharks tagged!
We'll try one more time. We have a half day tomorrow - Saturday - and then at about lunch time we leave Raine Island for the 40 hour run to Cairns. It has have been an amazing expedition. At times chaotic, trying to capture so much of what happens here all at the same time is a difficult frustrating task. But it has also shown amazing sights, like hundreds of turtles nesting in an impossibly area, literally crawling on each on each other and hatchlings with just their snouts out of sand fighting their way up to the surface and out across the sand to begin their battle of their lives. I also take heart in knowing that in late January we'll be back for another three weeks.
On the run back to Cairns I will try and up load the sound loop of the Torres Straits pigeons which Ashton recorded at Lockhart River. It is well worth a listen, I will also do my best to give you the over big picture why Ian Bell's and Dr. Seymour's turtle tagging program has such significant implications, This will include the latest data we have in graph for your review (in non-scientific format).
Stay tuned for the last two or three webcasts of this expedition.
Don't forget you can email us questions at
raineexpedition@netcarrier.com
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Photo Captions:
• Moon and tower at dawn.
• Two turtle mistakes.
• Turtle and tower.