Archelon - Night Surveys on Loggerhead Turtles
Trip Start
May 17, 2010
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3
6
Trip End
Sep 30, 2010
Kalo Nero, Peloponnese, Greece
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Soon after nesting season was in full swing the night surveys began. Yet again there were teams and beach sectors but the make up of the teams and the sectors were different from Morning Surveys. There were normally 3 people in a Night Survey team – the Tagger, the Restrainer, and the Scribe. The sectors were O North (only part of the O Sector), A South ( the busiest part of the beaches for turtle activity & Backof's territory), A North/B (the furthest from the camp). Our first night survey was with Tom Backof, American playboy by day and turtle professional at night. We really enjoyed that night and learnt a lot from Backof. Neil and I also went out on several occasions with Chanel, another American, and our night surveys with Chanel were extremely enjoyable.
To quote Backof ' Night Surveys are a privilege and not a right’. He is so right as not many turtle projects do night surveys and not every volunteer therefore gets to see a female adult turtle making a nest. To see a loggerhead turtle which is an endangered species laying her eggs is an awe-inspiring experience. Watching her dig an egg chamber and after laying her eggs covering with a ‘camouflage’ is absolutely exhilarating to see. They are slow and cumbersome on land but in water are absolutely beautiful. Night surveys usually lasted from 10pm to 4am, but sometimes until 5am. All depended on the number of turtles seen that night. Walking up and down the beach without the use of torches (so as not to affect the turtles), just using your own night vision made the experience all the more surreal. Doing night surveys had its own obstacles which volunteers had to overcome – trying not to fall over the rocks on O sector, staying awake all night, trying to catch up with sleep the following day but with difficulty due to the heat and any noise in camp. All these challenges were made all the more worthwhile by the knowledge that you are helping a reptile which has survived the challenges that the earth has created for them but which is having trouble to survive due to human impact. A female turtle only lays her eggs on the beach where she was born; her instinct is so strong she will not lay her eggs anywhere else. If that habitat is destroyed then she is unable to lay her eggs and will discharge them at sea. Let’s hope that Archelon is able to continue its work so that Loggerhead Turtles continue to survive in Greece.
All the volunteers who were there for the nesting season were able to do night surveys. Tom (Monitoring Leader) – many thanks on behalf of all of us for allowing us to do night surveys, we appreciate it and all enjoyed the experience.
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