Manjula goes blogging...

Do you remember your very first encounter with a sea turtle? and the first word(s) at the encounter? My first word at my very first encounter with a sea turtle was a more colorful version of “oops!” It was a moonless night on Great Nicobar Island, the tide had already gone out, and the shallow reef was exposed. My data entry for that night was “one emerging green turtle, accidentally mistaken for boulder in the dark, was frightened back into the sea at 1850 hours on 5th March 1991.”

Posted by Manjula Tiwari at 11:38 PM | Permalink

I am sure many of you have watched pelicans gliding along the breaking surf, with wing tips just barely skimming the tops of the wave. But, have you noticed that they sometimes fly in front of the breaking wave and sometimes behind the wave? and have you wondered why? Perhaps you have noticed and know why, but I was enlightened only recently by an ornithologist-surfer friend…

In simple words: When the wind approaches a wave in the ocean, it has to rise to get around the wave. Pelicans take advantage of this upward movement of air for lift and forward motion by flying close to the wave. So, in an off-shore wind, pelicans will be seen gliding along the beach side of the wave. But when an on-shore wind is blowing, pelicans flying along the ocean skim the back of the waves. This use of air currents is technically known as “slope soaring” - it allows for reduced wing flapping, effortless gliding, and minimum energy expenditure. This fun is not just for pelicans and other ocean birds - recently, some California pilots have discovered how much fun ocean wave slope soaring can be!!

Posted by Manjula Tiwari at 11:53 PM | Permalink

After a quasi-European upbringing, it took me a while to get used to temperature in Fahrenheit, distance in miles, and measurements in inches. Now, I know that I don’t have to bring out my stockings and woollies when the weatherman says it is 72°F. And miles don’t trouble me either. But inches? They continue to trouble me, especially when fractions are announced in sixteenth’s of an inch. More recently, inches caused some trouble in a transatlantic sea turtle project…

As part of a study to evaluate the interaction between sea turtles and fisheries in the rich and heavily fished waters of Morocco, a few willing fishermen were provided datasheets and measuring tapes to collect data on any turtles caught in their hooks or nets. One small detail caused a big “uh-oh” - the measuring tapes bought in the USA had inches on one side and centimeters on the other. The fishermen did not recognize the difference and provided measurements using whichever side of the tape measure was conveniently up. Fortunately, our astute Moroccan collaborator caught the problem very early and care is now taken to provide measuring tapes with only centimeters on both sides…

Posted by Manjula Tiwari at 01:20 PM | Permalink

Getting back to camp after a night’s search for nesting turtles can be simple on some beaches, but quite an adventure on others…

Ratnam and I had just completed a long night’s search for nesting turtles - we had walked several miles from the tip of Great Nicobar Island to the mouth of the Galathea river. It was 3 am and we were on the wrong side of the river. If it had been daytime, we would have waded/swum across, but at night it was too dangerous because of increased saltwater crocodile activity. Some of the locals had already warned us that the river was teeming with “all the crocodiles in the world.” So, our only choice was to cut through the mangroves that bordered the river to reach the bridge that would lead us across to camp. The tide was out, and this sounded like a relatively simple alternative, so off we went into the darkness of the mangroves quite aware that we were treading in prime crocodile habitat.

First, we were forced to enter the river and skirt the edge of the mangroves because the stands were too dense. Then the flashlight died on us and we had to feel our way with our hands and feet as we stumbled on the protruding roots in the soft, black mud. To top it all, we soon realized that we were hopelessly lost and disoriented. Finally, Ratnam said to me, “Madam, you wait here. I’ll try and find us a way out,” and disappeared into the darkness. Needless to say, ‘Madam’ did not feel very lighthearted about being left alone in the dark, especially without a flashlight to catch the glint of any approaching croc eyes. So, I found the tallest aerial root and climbed up on it and waited for Ratnam to return - I felt deceptively safer on my perch, which wasn’t even a meter off the ground! I am not sure how long I stood on the root, glancing nervously over my shoulder every now and then, and wondering how in the world Ratnam would ever locate me again….Eventually, I heard a faint voice call out ‘Madam?’ from somewhere. Ratnam had miraculously found a way to the bridge and found his way back to where I was and soon we were back at camp!

Posted by Manjula Tiwari at 09:55 PM | Permalink