Day 7- Tiga Ruang

After a great night last night, it was sad that Kerry, Adam and Bethan had already left early in the morning. Hopefully we can get a reunion going back in Plymouth. In the morning Dan and I did our cleaning jobs then I made us both Scrambled Egg. Was quite impressed by how well if tasted and turned out. After breakfast we went to do a Turtle Survey at Pitani Beach this is the beach round the corner of the Village where Alunan Resort is situated. We could have walked which would have taken 10 minutes but instead thought it be more fun to kayak. We set off from the village and headed round the coast, on our way before we even got to Pitani we spotted a green turtle surfacing. Both of us sped up our paddling and then Dan jumped into to try and find it however by the time we got there it had disappeared. As we carried along I started a transect. There was no obvious sea grass at Pitani so it wasn't as easy to know where to look compared to PIR. Just as I got back in the Kayak we spotted another turtle surfacing. This time we got there in time, Dan jumped in and followed it for a while. I then passed him the GoPro and he dived down to try to get a good shot of the markings. When he came up he thought he had. We carried on for another half hour or so exploring up and down the bay but had no luck. On our way back to the village I stopped and had a quick snorkel at one of the coral spots I knew on the way. I dived down with my GoPro and got pictures of clown fish. I also saw a Puffer fish as big as a football but was unable to photo. For lunch we went down the food court and I went to the Buffet and filled my plate with rice and this beef dish. It was a huge portion and only 15RM. After lunch we went back to the house as well as losing Kerry, Adam and Bethan also leaving today was four of our interns, two I got on with really well. They were a couple from Liverpool University studying Environmental Science. Both of them were in their second year and had been here 3 weeks, as a kind of educational holiday before 3rd year. They were really nice people, Dylan was from Liverpool and actually had a tolerable Scouse accent. He was really chilled, we got on very well similar music tastes etc. Emma his girlfriend was quite a strong environmentalist, she was into her eco products and she made her own sun cream and was of course vegan. She was really nice we had a laugh, so was sad to see the pair of them leave. After they left me and Dan went for a swim from the jetty to the mosque which is a fair distance just saying. Tonight me, Dan and Wid were going to Tiga Ruang the nesting beach for the turtles that Nick is based at. We gathered our things and went to the jetty to get our boat. Tiga Ruang is on the other island and is paradise. It gets the sun all day and is opposite the party beach, long beach on the other island. When we got there we unloaded the gear and then Wid showed me around. It was even more basic than the house in the village. The house was powered by a generator that only kicked in at 7. Water was limited and there was a fresh stream that was used for washing water. I found a spot on a hanging tree to put up my Hammock overlooking the beach. It was perfect.

Once the hammock was set me and Dan cooked dinner. We had this tin chicken and potato curry which sounded nice. However as we found out when we were eating it the chicken wasn't de-boned and it made it very hard to eat having to pick bones out of every mouthful. After dinner we tidied up and then we all sat on the beach watching an electric storm that was happening across at the other island; no thunder just flashes of yellow lighting up the clouds with the occasional lightning bolt spotted.

Wid then explained the night patrol procedure when you have volunteers and without volunteers. It consisted of shift work  2 people doing the first shift 10-2 the other people doing 3-7. Each shift consisted of on each hour of the night patrolling the beach to the end looking for turtles or signs of turtle activity. If a turtle is spotted then the procedure of checking nesting occurs. More on that if it happens or next time. As well as nesting, any turtle tracks are recorded and marked by walking across them so the next person knows to not mark those tracks. Turtles often do something called a false crawl where they go to make their nest but something isn't right so retreats back to the sea. Me and Wid had the early 10-2 shift. I was resting in my hammock when a boat pulled up at the beach, my first thought was poachers and then I remembered fisheries turns up during the night. These are 6 men that patrol the island for the government and protect the hatchery on Tiga Ruang. As the fisheries arrived they had already checked the beach so we didn't need to do our first hour beach patrol. We sat with them chatting for a bit until 11. The fisheries staff left and checked the beach so again we didn't need to do it. I went back to my Hammock and napped for an hour.