March 29th
Woke up to the foggiest morning I’ve seen on South Padre Island (SPI). I walked out the door and felt as though I’d taken a dip in the ocean – not the best look for greeting visitors in a semi-professional manner.
I’m living in Casa de Mariposa. I’d say it’s a villa. Or at least the closest thing to a villa that I’ll ever step foot in. The walls are all painted bold, bright, and beautiful colors, the garden is thriving with all sorts of unknown and radiant flora and at every step there is some sort of cultural piece – paintings, stain glass, mini sculptures, and imported support columns...I wish I could go in more detail but a great deal of it flew right past me on our grand tour.
Rosalita lived with me for a few days. She's the rusty yet seemingly reliable Sea Turtle Inc. (STI) bike that interns are permitted to ride We would awkwardly scramble through the grand front doors and set off in the mornings. Unfortunately, I pulled her up to the street and realized her rear tire was dud. This flat set me off to a great start. So we walked handle bar in hand for about 45 minutes down Padre Blvd (the main strip) to STI. I’d say the most frustrating part of living on a flat somewhat barren piece of land is that your destination is in sight for a little more than half of the trip. It taunts you. It teases you. It almost seems as though it’s getting further away.
We arrived 10 minutes late – lucky for me most people here run on island time. Finally people get me! Right away I set to cleaning all the windows on the sea turtle tanks. Squeegy in my right, windex in my left. We feed, vacuum, backwash and conduct any necessary modifications from 8:30am until the doors open at 10:00am. Today’s modifications included relocating Canuck and Emanon, two sub-adult Kemp’s Ridleys, to a larger tank. We constructed a barrier from previously used PVC and plastic lattice fencing. Atlantic Green turtles are the only species we have in our facility that can occupy the same tank with no barriers. The rest act aggressively and will attack any “tank roomies”. Two other juvenile turtles Pedro, a Hawksbill, and Jack, a Kemp’s Ridley, got a mega-upgrade as we relocated them from the gift shop to the main facility. Turtles in a gift shop? No, not for sale. I’ll discuss this later. I managed to get another saltwater shower from Canuck – soaked from head to toe. Thanks man.
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| SPX the Red Heeler on duty. He was a SAR dog in New Mexico. He keeps his skillz sharp by sniffing out turtle nests. He's found ten in the past three years! |
Dave and his dog SPX have worked at the centre for some time. He has retired from his non-turtle occupation, and has become a part-time staff member here at STI. He is eager to share his seemingly endless turtle knowledge. All throughout the day I’d riddle him with questions and he fired back in-depth answers without even blinking. He also convinced me to give my first solo “turtle talk” which went well – his advice? Don’t be so hard on yourself – you are your worst critic. Noted.
The day went fast. Before we knew it the doors were closing and we were ready to get outside. I’ve volunteered some free time to walk shelter dogs. I took the bus up to “Island Dog Wash” where I was created by seven panting, barking, nipping bodies. In the back were the bigger dogs – I walked Booger. A staffie, lab, mastiff mix? Great personality – super relaxed and ready to be my best friend. The walk didn’t last long as all the interns were gathering at D’Pizza Joint to meet Anthony’s parents. They so kindly offered to treat us to some grub. Lots of laughs and goofing around until the pizza came. Sharon (Cali intern) and I may have put away four hefty slices of pizza. HIGH FIVE. We said our goodbyes then retired to Casa de Mariposa for some banana grams. wahoooooo
March 30th
An early morning. Earlier this week Anthony, Sharon and I had a day off to explore the Island. We checked out all of the “Spring Break Party” stores which were absolutely overwhelming. The superstores are scattered along the main strip, Padre Blvd. They sell useless tacky trinkets along with some funny clothes a “typical spring breaker” would love to sport (i.e. “DTF”…actually I don’t think I’m going to continue the descriptions – naaaat so appropriate)
Anyway, my point is, there was a store that stole my heart. Friend of Animal Rescue is both a resale store and a shelter for abandoned animals. We immediately volunteered our free hours to walk any of the dogs that were itching for some play time. I found a dog that jumped higher than the rest, nibbled hands like there was no tomorrow and was extremely vocal. Needless to say he could use some one on one training increase his chances of adoption.
I volunteered (yay! a permanent running buddy) – hence the early morning. I figure getting a good walk in before each shift at the center might do me good. Wrong. I was dog tired for the rest of the day (haaa see what I did there?).
So I’m at STI and Kat (the energetic education coordinator) informs us there will be three school groups coming in today. Great! I’ve heard so much about her education talks and I hear some of the kids ask some pretty cute questions. After the first presentation the interns were given a group of kids (fourteen first graders) to take around the hospital. Oh. My. My. It was pretty chaotic – kids grabbed your shirt left and right “Miss! Miss! Can I pet the turtle?” “Miss! Miss! What is this turtle’s name?” “Miss! Miss! Did you know my dad can lift me over his head?!” “Miss! Miss! I can’t see the turtle!”
AHHHHHHH
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| Sarah and Gerry killin' it with some of the first graders |
Initially you could say I was overwhelmed. It was more difficult than leading a birthday of 25 sugared-up screaming 9 year olds. The biggest obstacle was gaining all fourteen children’s attention at once. And to be honest all they wanted was too “Oooooo” and “Ahhhhh” at the turtle swimming by and move on.
By the time the third school came in I think I managed the situations much better. Sure, throughout the whole day I had a few kids sneak a hand in the tank, but no fingers were lost and I learned a heck of a lot! And that’s all that matters. Right?
Jeff and I also managed to re-locate the last RV that was for Sarah and me. We used the little ford pick-up to move the monster and Jefe did a flawless reversing park job. Three cheers for no catastrophes!
Five o’clock rolled around so Nina (an intern from-ish Humbolt) and I headed back to the dog shelter to walk some more dogs. I was so tired by the end of the day I think I passed out at 10:00. Bags were dumped, the RV was a mess, but at least it was home.
April 1st
Third night in the RV and I love it. I hung out my laundry the night before (mum and dad would be proud). It was a bit wet from the ocean spray but I figured it will dry by lunch time. All the interns were working today except Anthony. Sarah and I were informed we were to give a presentation to a Girl Scout troop that was coming in today. Remember how I said Kat had such a great presentation for younger kids? Well she seems a seasoned public speaker – especially with kids. So Sarah and I were to deliver the same type of presentation – one that would require lots of energy. We planned the skeleton of the material we wished to cover in the staff room then tried doing a rough rehearsal that didn’t really go well. Sooooo we decided to jack ourselves up on coffee and microwave popcorn. A foolproof plan to success!
The Girl Scouts were out earlier this morning picking up trash along the beach. So we wanted to cater our presentation on WHY it’s important to take care of our beaches. We ended up having a full audience of regular visitors. So before we got started we asked the visitors and staff to give a big round of applause to the timid girls sitting up front. It was a little heart-warming. But only a little. :P
Sarah and I dressed a brave young Girl Scout as a goofy looking sea turtle, did the hatchling dance, chased the wee girls with coyotes and sharks, showed some gruesome photos of turtles pooping plastic (it’s impossible not to cringe once you figure out what’s going on in the photo), and emphasized how important it is to be the voice of our non-releasable turtles found at the center. The session ended with group tours, photos with Gerry (the super social Atlantic Green sea turtle), and cupcakes. WHAT? Waaaahoooooo! Best part of the job. Hahaha
The rest of the day was pretty quiet. I managed to speak with a few visitors who were really excited by our presentations and seemed so enthusiastic about sea turtles. This is my goal; to reach the entire audience and have their brains swirling with swimming sea turtles and our conservation efforts - even if for only 10 minutes. Heck 5 minutes! We get people of all shapes and sizes. How do you make their visit personal? What is the most effective way to influence their lifestyles? Everyone is just so different. It’s a daunting task and personally, I get overwhelmed at times. But what the staff has been repeating over and over is just do your best. There’s nothing more you can do if you give it your all.
I’m mentally checking out for the rest of the day.
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