1) why are you majoring marine biology?

2) what was your favorite part of the project?

3) how many eggs have you taken from sea turtle nests?

Your learning observations on this blog show that you are really listening!!! Great job!

Here’s a question for you guys:

What is your hypothesis – do you think beach sand heats up or cools down faster? Why?

Cheers,
Katherine

Where was your mentor born?
Holbrook, MA

Where is your mentor now (city, country)?
Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico

How did your mentor get involved with sea turtle conservation?
I met with my advisor many times discussing what species I wanted to work with for my thesis for graduate school. I love the beach and sandy beach ecosystems, and want to fulfill a career which is involved in beach conservation. I have always loved sea turtles, so they seemed to be a great species to study because they nest on the beach and feed and breed in the shallow waters nearby.

2) Next your mentor will ask your class a question. Record the question and your answer below.

Question: What do you think are the main threats to sea turtle populations?
My Answer:
• Commercial fishing lines – they are caught up in the lines and hooks for fishing
• Pollution – they can mistake trash for food
• Global warming – rising temperatures are not good the the eggs incubating in the sand because it turns all the eggs into females, and no males, or can make all the eggs infertile. Also, with the sea levels rising, it decreases the amount of habitat sea turtles have to nest in.

3) Students will ask the following questions to their mentor. Record each response.

What were some of your initial observations and thoughts when you first arrived to your field research site?
• Beautiful laid back vacation area.
• The people are so friendly.
• The Centro Ecologico Akumal is very involved with sea turtle biology and conservation.

What are your expectations for this research experience?
• Gain field research experience
• Data collection experience
• Data processing experience
• Statistical analysis experience

What is your daily routine for collecting sea turtle data?
• 2:00-3:00pm Wake up
• 3:00pm Eat breakfast
• 3:00pm-7:00pm Work on writing my thesis
• 7:00pm-8:30pm Cook dinner and eat
• 8:30pm-5am Sea turtle patrol on the beach and data collection
• 5:00am-6:00am Settle down
• 6:00am-3:00pm Sleep

Have you interacted with sea turtles yet, or seen any evidence of sea turtles? Please describe.
• Sea turtles come up every night. I take the following measurements from them:
o Date
o Time
o Nest #
o Species
o Tag #
o Is this her first time nesting?
o Scarring?
o Luminance level
o Temperature at cloaca level
o Temperature at the bottom of the nest
o Distance from the water to the nest
o Distance from the nest to the back of the beach
o Air temperature
o Air humidity
o Wind
o Weather
o Tide level
o Elevation above sea level
o Temperature along the track every 1.5m
o Slope of the track every 1.5m
o Luminance level along the track every 1.5m

What challenges have you faced so far, and what have you learned?
• Walking along the beach at night can be dangerous. You have to be very careful where you step because you may walk into something, fall into a hole the sea turtles have made when creating their nests, or even walk into a sea turtle!
• I have learned to always have my red flashlight with me and to be careful where I am going. Last night I came out to the beach from the hotel nearby and my eyes had not adjusted yet to the dark and I walked right into a large tree stump on the beach and fell right over it! I bruised both my shins, one of my hands, bruised my ribs, and hit my head too. I have also fallen into sea turtle holes once or twice. Luckily the sand is soft so it doesn’t hurt unless you twist something when falling.
• Sometimes the tourists do not understand what we are doing and do not want to listen to us when we ask them to please not use white flash lights (we can only use red lights) and to not take flash photography. They want to get close to the sea turtle but do not understand that they are easily disrupted and will go back to the sea if they are too stressed out by too many people who are not respecting them.
• I have learned that with education, comes appreciation for the turtles. If people understand why we are here and what we are doing to conserve the sea turtles, they too want to do the same and change their behaviors and also tell others to do the same.

What types of equipment are you using to collect data, and how?
• 60 cm Compost thermometer – measures the depth of the nest, and also the temperature at the bottom of the nest
• Pen thermometer – measures the temperature 2cm deep at the cloaca level, and also 2cm deep along the track every 1.5m
• Meter tape – measures the length of the track and also tells me where to take my data collection every 1.5m
• Air thermometer – measures the temperature when the sea turtle comes up on the beach
• Hygrometer – measures the humidity when the sea turtles comes up on the beach
• Luminance meter – measures the light from the moon reflecting off the sand
• Ziplock bags, frying pan electric heater, scale – I measure the moisture content of the sand where the sea turtle nested by putting ~50g into a Ziplock bag. When I come back to my room I weigh the sand sample with the scale, cook the sand in the frying pan with the electric heater. When the sand is completely dry, I let it cool off, and then weigh it again to see how much moisture was in the sand. I calculate the difference in weights (Wet weight – dry weight) and then calculate the % moisture
o (Difference/Dry weight)*100 = %moisture
• Inclinometer – this device measures the slope/angle of the beach every 1.5m along the track, and also measures the elevation of the nest above sea level.
• Sand grain siv – measures the size of the sand where the sea turtle made her nest

What are some of the safety precautions you take while using equipment and working in the field?
• Make sure the sea turtle is not disturbed by us working with her
• Watch where you are walking.
• Never walk along, always in pairs or three people.
• Always bring a red flash light.