The Hatchery is Done and the Sun is Shining!

I am proudly presenting here the field team 2010-2011, everyone is a little tired and burned from walking at night, and working in the hatchery during the day.

Finally - though - the hatchery is done, and we will be able to relocate nests inside from today on. The boys have spent literally the whole last day in the hatchery to put-up the shade and the fence. 

So now it is time to catch-up with some of the missed sleep over the next days, to heal blisters and sore muscles, and to wait for the first Leatherback to officially inaugurate the hatchery.

The last part was to put-up the Japanese roof, which will serve as shade. 

INFO: The gender of a sea turtle is determined by the nest temperature during the egg incubation. Higher temperatures will lead to a bias in female embryos and lowe temperatures to a bias in male embryos. For a healthy population you would like to have a sex ration of 1:1 (males to females). Unfortunately, due to beach site developement (less trees and vegetation) and to generally rising temperatures globally, we find in most sea turtle populations skewed sex ratios with a bias towards females, e.g. 1:3 (males to females) in a Australian Green turtle population. Therefore we decided to shade our hatchery in order to create (artifically) a balanced sex ratio, or if at all a slight bias towards males.

Completed Hatchery with Japanese roof!

Furthermore, the sun is shining again, the fruit and veggie truck found his way into Ostional again; Elmar is trying to find a technique on how to hide his tubes for his study so that people don't pull them out, and take them home for their personal sanitary renovation; Ashley and Cody have found well into the work routine, and are walking the beach each night like champions, and Jairo and Greivin are also finally settling-in.

We are also already anticipating the first ISV group of this season, and are busy preparing schedules, and activities.

The Shade for the hatchery during the set-up.

Elmar working hard in the hatchery!