“Managing Expectations” – that is Dr. Brendan Godley’s mantra during sea turtle research. This morning before beginning a nest excavation on Long Beach, he again warned to manage our expectations because there was a goodContinue reading
Today we hiked Green Mountain, which is given its name due to the vast plant population upon it. In their experiment in 1800s, Darwin and Hooker decided to green the landscape and brought in exoticContinue reading
In the 17th century, letterboxes were placed around the Island so that outward-bound ships could carry out letters written by inhabitants of Ascension Island. Since then, hiking out to letterboxes has become a recreational adventure.Continue reading
Ascension Island is a 36 square mile island in the South Atlantic Ocean, stationed approximately 700 miles from the nearest land – St. Helena, site of Napoleon Bonaparte’s exile. Its profound geographic isolation makes oneContinue reading
We have arrived! Our Royal Air Force flight arrived on Ascension Island around 8 this morning and we didn’t waste any time getting started! We were met at the airport by Drs BrendanContinue reading
Our first day mostly consisted of long plane rides and even longer layovers. It took us a total of 36 hours to get to Ascension Island with two overnight plane rides. By the end ofContinue reading
Our first activity of the day was a trip into the rainforest to see one of St. Croix’s biggest tourist attractions: drinking pigs. This attraction has been around for over 40 years on the islandContinue reading
Today was the last day of the trip. The past three nights with groups patrolling the beach at Sandy Point have all been successful. Altogether, we recorded 11 nesting leatherbacks and 2 nesting green turtles,Continue reading
One of the main objectives of this field trip is to provide the exceptional opportunity to interact directly with wild sea turtles and the researchers who work with them. As you can tell from someContinue reading
This story begins at 12am, on the beach, under a sky full of stars in Sandy Point, St. Croix. We had begun patrolling at 8pm the previous day and had already seen one green turtleContinue reading
