A Day in the Life
It's 5 am. My alarm rings, although the howler monkeys had me up just minutes before. I roll out of bed, cover myself in sunscreen, grab my snorkel gear, and head out the door. On my way to San Juanillo, I pick up my assistants who will help me catch turtles in the water.
Rolando, our boat captain, is usually still fiddling with his motor out in the water while we wait for him to pull up through the surf to pick us up.
We putter out a few kilometers north, just offshore of Ostional and stop the motor. My assistants get their snorkel gear ready and I prepare everything for our treatment.
Looking over the bow of the boat, we scan the surface of the water.
There are one, two, three, four, five... turtles all around us basking in the sun at the surface. Their tops of their carapaces poking up out of the water look like little stepping stones scattered across the horizon, as far as you can see.
Once we've spotted one or two nearby, my assistants slip into the water and slowly approach one turtle after another. This seems to be best technique as not to startle them and scare them off.
Sometimes, the turtles will even swim right up to us!
The turtles are brought aboard one by one, where I measure, tag, and release the turtles. While my assistants are constantly in and out of the water, I spend most of my time on board, measuring turtles or processing samples.
Despite taking a solid dosage of dramamine, I inevitably feel sea sick from time to time. Bobbing in a small motorboat at rough seas while working closely with turtles and inhaling the exhaust of the boat engine isn't the same as a sunset cruise on a sailboat. But hopping in the water every now and then helps to ease the nausea although I'll be the first to admit that I have thrown up a few times!
We typically spend about 4 hours out on the water. When we are all done with our work, we all hop in the water for a refreshing and relaxing swim before heading back. By the time we get back to shore, we are ready for some gallo pinto (a typical Costa Rican rice and bean breakfast dish)!
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