Turtles... the REALLY REALLY big ones!

A couple weeks into the semester Megan and I started hearing whispers about sea turtles. Eventually the whispers changed to giant sea turtles. Then the bad news came in, the facts. Yes there are giant sea turtles in Grenada, BUT they only come out at night after dark. They also only come to the most remote beach on the island, which of course is the furthest point away from where we live. Next the uh not so great news kept coming in, to see the turtles you have to sign up for a Sunday night trip with the research group which is tracking and monitoring the turtles.... for a 11 hour shift, 7pm to 6am.
This news was less then exciting to say the least. Megan has class 9:30am Monday, and does not function well on less then 8 hours of sleep. Asking her to work on 2.5 hours or less was more then just unrealistic. The sign-ups came and went, we wanted to go but just couldn't see making it happen, "probably next term".
Luckily for us there is a tour guide group which posted an event on Facebook to go see the turtles in conjunction with the research group. And best yet the trip was 6pm to midnight and on a Wed night when Thursday was a holiday. PERFECT! We quickly signed up!
Due to previous bus experiences (see the waterfall trip), Megan was leery of sitting in the back of a bus flying around bumpy windy roads at night. Contacting the group I proposed following behind the bus. The day we were to leave, Laura, Bob, and their daughter, India, joined us in our car. Thanks to Bob's negotiations we got a nicely reduced cost (since we weren't using the bus service).
Off we go, me at the helm chasing a white bus with a big blue stripe. There was nothing more important to me that night then to NOT LOSE THAT BUS! It was a little challenging but I managed. There was one pit stop along the way to allow a poor young British tourist to loose her dinner off the side of the road. Off we go again making darting turns down roads which look like they wouldn't go anywhere and eventually landing us on a very bumpy dirt road on the beach.
We eventually stopped at a small shack which was to serve us some dinner. A bit sketchy? ohhh yeah! Food cleanliness?... Food what? Seeing as it wasn't till 9pm when we finally reached this place we didn't care. Gobbling down the BBQ chicken we were recharged and ready to see some turtles.
Above, you can see Megan on the left in pink, India on Laura's lap, and Bob on the right as everyone enjoys dinner.
Prior to going on this trip there were a few things that we knew about ahead of time. One, you can't use normal flashlights - at the time all we knew was that you needed to cover them with red cellophane. Also we knew that headlights, the flashlight thing with an elastic band for around your head, was greatly preferred. Of course finding something specialized like a headlamp was impossible in Grenada. So instead I bought and borrowed a couple little flashlights, covered the ends with red cellophane and then mounted them to the bill of two hats we had. When we arrived I was quite disappointed to find out that the 9 LED flashlights I was using were too bright! bummer... so essentially no one could use their flashlights except the tour guide.
As the group poured out onto the beach in total and complete blackness we were all quite shocked to see we only had to walk about 50 feet onto the beach to find our giant Leatherback Sea Turtle. Standing in complete darkness (except for two very dull red lights) made even seeing this monstrous beast very difficult even though it was within inches of us. Eventually eyes adjusting I was astonished to see the size of this turtle. Comparatively our turtle was only a medium sized one at a bit over 5 FEET LONG! My facts could be a bit skewed but what I understood the guide to say was that they are often about 6 foot long full grown. That is one frigg'n HUGE turtle.
So what the heck is a sea turtle doing on land anyhow right? They come on shore this season to lay eggs. They find the perfect spot, similar to a dog finding the perfect spot to do their business, it doesn't look any different they any other patch of sand to us but for some reason the turtle thinks this one spot is just right. The researchers count the eggs and ensure that perfect spot truly is a safe and good location for the eggs. If it's not, they will re-locate the eggs to a better location. The researchers also microchip the turtles for traceability, essentially they insert a chip the size of a grain of rice just under the skin in an area the turtle has almost no sensation in. Then when they find turtles they scan them and can tell what turtle each one is, and track their measurements (if they grew).
So now that we are seeing this ultra incredible sight we want to share it with everyone at home and prove that we actually saw what we said we saw, right? Out comes all the cameras... now here is where that whole red light thing kicks in. Turtles use the reflection of the moonlight on the crashing waves to determine what direction the ocean is. Essentially when they are done laying their eggs they move towards light. This system works great when nature is left alone, but enter us humans and you can see how beach side property completely screws them up. They either can't get back to the ocean or don't come on to shore at all in the first place, hence they are an endangered species. Now, red light is dimmer and different enough that the researchers can use it to work around the turtles without messing them up too bad. Except when the turtle is all done, at that point all lights must go off. We learned this the hard way... more on that later.
So everyone's got their cameras ready, but we cant use any light, so no flash. This leads me to a question, do you know what the single most important influence on photography is? LIGHT!!!! Now, we're all on a beach with an amazing Leatherback sea turtle in front of us which our naked eyes can barely see even with the dim red light and cameras can't see a thing. Luckily for me I know a little (not a lot) about my camera and photography. New digital cameras usually won't take a photo unless they can establish focus on the subject, the camera cant focus on solid black. First step, put camera in manual focus mode. Cameras work on a simple mechanism, the more light available the quicker it can take a photo. Hence all your night shots are usually blurry, because you couldn't hold the camera still long enough, even though that same amount of time worked just fine for outdoor soccer shots. So secondly I needed to hold the camera PERFECTLY STILL for about 20 seconds, that wasn't about to happen without a tripod. What is all this equating to? A big long winded excuse for blurry red & black hard to distinguish photos... see below... :)

Above - Most the photos taken are from behind the turtle using the little light the guide had to light what you see. We were always in back to reduce the amount of light in the turtles face.


Above - this blurry lump is a turtle head, one of only three shots I have of the front of the turtle.
Another thing to note, although there looks like there was a lot of light in these photos that is due to altering the contrast and brightness a LOT. The original photos are black with a slight red glow.
Above - that was the money shot! the best shot I had of the night. all the white you see on the turtles back is just sand which the turtle flung up there while digging.

above - this shot is of a researcher with his left arm holding the turtles left rear flipper out of the way while the guys right arm catches a few eggs (the white blobs). This shot is thanks to a very nice British girl and the only other person on the trip with an SLR, who I later found out was staying in our apartment complex. (Convenient for swapping the couple good shots we each got out of the 40 or so I took).

At one point we did get to each take a turn touching the turtle. It's hard to describe what it felt like other then like leather. The shell was soft but firm. The ridges down the shell were very hard and almost barnacle like. I reached down further and felt the turtles hind leg and flipper. The skin was silky smooth and soft, not at all what I expected. The flipper was a bit harder but still pretty soft. Through all of this the turtle really didn't seem to care about us. With the exception of getting confused about the lights. The shots i have of the front of the turtle were taken as it slowly turned towards me and started moving in my direction. I was only a couple inches from her in that head only shot. We quickly turned off all our lights and the turtle re-oriented herself and headed off to the ocean.

Now, so you have an idea what the turtles actually look like, I Googled the leatherback sea turtles and found the below images...



These guys are doing exactly what we were doing. Either this photograph was taken before they knew about the affects of flash and white lights or the photographer got a nice chewing out right after this shot was taken.

Megan and I hope to go back up there again before sundown and hope to see a turtle or two come ashore when there is still some light out, doubtful but hopeful. This trip probably won't happen for a while but I'll make sure to post about it when it does. This was quite an experience.

Grenada 2008 Triathlon

First off it's been ... over a month since I last posted, time sure flies. This is not to say we haven't been up to anything interesting in the past month, I've just been a bit lazy i suppose. So on to the Tri.
A friend/classmate of Megan's at SGU, Jenny, brought her nice Cannondale road bike down a couple months back. I bought a mountain bike off a departing student about the same time. We started riding about once a week since then. It wasn't long after that she brought up the Grenada Triathlon. She wanted to do the whole thing her self but thought it'd be fun if three of us did it as a relay. I was totally for that, having done this once before for a sprint tri in Oxnard, I knew it would be a blast. Jenny did the searching of her fellow class mates and first convinced Hedda, a great avid runner to join. Then after some looking she convinced Katie to join as the swimmer. Katie kept warning us that she had not swam much at all in the past 8 years. I still knew she'd do far better then myself as my swimming has been limited to the dog paddle, and 1700 meter swim equaled me on the bottom of the ocean floor.
Fast forward to this past Saturday, race day! I was nervous as usual prior to any event and couldn't eat much of anything. The race was scheduled to start at noon, which is a terrible time considering the heat and wind but oh well. In typical Grenada fashion things got delayed and the race started about 1pm. Prior to race start the four of us Jenny (going solo), Hedda, Katie, and myself were lucky enough to enjoy the cool comfort of Hedda's mom's cottage which happened to be right where the race started. The Olympic distance Tri and the Sprint Tri were both the "main attactions" but prior to them there were many smaller races held. "Tri-a-tri" which is a super short distance tri for first timers, and other tris for young kids. The highlight of these pre-events was the "6 and under Tri". I seriously had no idea there ever was such a thing! Below are some photos of this fun event. I didn't have the camera in hand for the swim unfortunately, it consisted of about a 10 foot long, 3 foot deep, parent assisted swim (splash as much as possible). Followed by the kids running into the transition area to grab their bikes for the next portion of the race...

Note the training wheels! Don't for a second think these kids weren't taking this seriously though! This was TOUGH STUFF!

This little guy wizzed around no training wheels needed. He did however need some serious directional help from Dad in blue. Offical number on shirt? Check! Number written on all limbs? Check!

Watch out Olympians! This little guy will be kicking some serious butt in a few years. He transitioned from bike to run prior to some of the kids even getting onto their bikes! A very determined and fast little guy!

A female athlete here a bit stressed about where to go. Mom closely by her side made sure she found her way.
Jumping off the bike mom assists as they run to the transition area to drop off the bike!

Another little girl on her way in from the big bike ride!

With the helmet and the bike back in the transition area she's off like lightning! (well relative lightning anyhow ;) )
Little girl number two closely on the other girls heals you can see the determination in her face.

Needless to say it was a hilarious event which we all enjoyed immensely. The little kids did an awesome job. On to the main event...

Here is our motley crew from left to right, Hedda (runner), Katie (swimmer), me (cyclist), and Jenny (doing the WHOLE DANG THING!). This is just prior to the start of the race, all of us still standing up tall and straight. The three of us (Hedda, Katie and I), had to come up with a team name while registering. Thanks to Hedda's brilliance we are known as the HIPPOS! Dangerous and fast! (Did you know hippos have been clocked running over 30 mph?!)

Just prior to the race Katie gets pumped up! Notice the sea of red swim caps and how few yellow ones you see? That yellow signifies crazy, aka Olympic distance. Katie is just about to swim 1500 meters, that's about 1499 meters further then I'd make it, even with 'Water Wings'!

So a quick overview of the Tri. The Sprint try was one lap swim (750 meters), 3 laps cycling (12 miles), and 2 laps running (3.1 miles). We (including Jenny) did the Olympic Tri which is double everything 1500m swim, 24 mile bike ride, and a 6 mile run.

Unfortunately we caught this big harry guy in the way of the photo behind him facing the camera is Jenny suited up and ready to kick some butt.

AND THEY'RE OFF!!! Can you see the yellow cone way off in the distance? Lets just say that's the short side of a rectangle and you can't even see the other cones off to the right. The Olympic swimmers swam this two times!

Here's Jenny flying out of the water as if she just did that swim in her sleep.
Katie following closely behind, came streaming out of the water to hand off the anklet to me.
In a relay Tri the electronic microchip anklet you wear (which records your time) is the "baton" that is handed from athlete to athlete. In this race the rule was the previous athlete had to place it on the next athlete. Katie is very quickly strapping me up!
Katie having kicked butt on the swim pauses for a quick shot (not looking the least bit tired), as I run off with my bike to the cycling course. She of course proved how amazing of a swimmer she really is, regardless of not swimming for the past 8 years.
Here I am completing my first of six laps. Although it looks as though I am already laying down on the job, i am attempting to "get little". This is not easy on a mountain bike.
Jenny screams by here doing a much better job of "getting little".
As can be seen from this shot Jenny is a nice narrow bullet shape, "little". The smaller you get the less wind resistance and with the REALLY strong winds here that was a big factor. On my big fat tired mtn. bike i did my best by just laying low.
Jenny is now flying through her run makeing it look effortless. Don't forget by this point she's already swam 1700 meters, rode 40Km (24 miles), and is now into a 10K (6.2 mile) run. Jenny's hardcore!
Here I am still putting along on my mountain bike. Yes that's a cop on my butt and no he's not trying to give me a ticket (although his lights and siren were going full force). This is one of those race indicators you either love or hate. If the cop is in front of you that means you are the very first athlete on the course and they are clearing the road for you... but in my case I had the proud distinction of being dead last! In addition to leading the first athlete they also follow the last. The sounds of his motorcycle struggling to go as slow as I was kept this very clear in my mind.
Yeah I was about ready to lob a tomato or what ever I could at the cop by this point. I know he was doing his job, but man was it annoying! Thankfully this was my last lap. On lap four I was already being asked by race officials "This is your last lap, right?!", and again on lap five. I could see they were relieved on my last lap that they could finally stop standing in the sun directing traffic. It wasn't the most encouraging thing to hear/see, but hey whatever I finished! And I did it as quick as I could!
Dismounting I ran my bike into the transition area where Hedda was waiting.
As I mentioned before it was my job as the previous athlete to remove the anklet from my ankle and place it on Hedda. This is a FAR harder task then one might think. Simply running after biking 24 miles was challenging, then to bend over and do something requiring dexterity was challenging enough that Hedda checked to make sure i could do it as i fumbled around. :)
Hedda literally sprints off to do her portion, the 6.2 mile run.
After my bike ride I was very low on energy (too little to eat prior) and the world kept turning blue. I promptly sat down before gravity forced me to the ground. I of course laid back right into a huge ant nest and proceeded to get bitten like crazy by tiny black ants. Megan ensured I had plenty of fluid (i downed five bottles of water in about 20 minutes, it's hard to intake enough water in this heat), and food. A nice thing about being on a tropical island is that tree ripened bananas (not pulled off green like they are for the US) are very accessible and tasted GREAT after the ride.
Here's Jackie one of our cheering crowd! The support was really awesome! The section of people cheering for the Hippos was louder then any other on the course! GO HIPPOS!!! We couldn't have asked for a better fan club! Thanks Megan, Jackie, Elise, Chad, and Kris (Hedda's Mom)!
Hedda booked it through the race with grace, serious speed, and a huge smile. This won her the "Most Spirited Athlete" award at the BBQ banquet Sat night.
Hedda finished in great time. We all had a blast
Jenny came in a ways ahead of us finishing very strong. I am SO impressed she did that whole thing, and faster then the three of us combined!

Saturday night the Grenada Triathlon organization had a BBQ banquet for the athletes and an awards ceremony. Jenny, Megan and I attended. Apparently relay team genders are determined by majority rules. I found this out the hard way when the 2nd place FEMALE Olympic distance relay award was announced to The Hippos! I thought it was hilarious receiving the female award for my team, being a male of course.

This is a shot of one of our three identical medals. The back is smooth metal which I plan to have engraved with "2nd Place FEMALE Olympic Distance Triathlon"
Just as impressive if not more so Jenny won 1st Place for Women 20-29! Picture coming soon!

I had an awesome time. I couldn't have asked for better teammates! Thanks Hedda and Katie!! Thanks also to Jenny, for without her encouragement none of us would have ever done it!