8th Apr - 11 Apr 2013 - Turtle Tagging on Conception Island, Bahamas
Nimue
Thu 11 Apr 2013 22:44
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It was around high water, as we exited
the cut at Calabash Bay, Long Island, but we were soon motoring into a 2 metre
swell, as we made for Conception Island, 20nm away. It brought back
many memories, as we approached the anchorage, as we were last there with Steve
& Chris off Scott Free.
 At the anchorage at Conception Island
and a view from Nimue’s cockpit
 Mating season, as we saw
hundreds of Tropicbirds flying over us. Conception has the largest
concentration of nesting Tropicbirds in The Bahamas.
Steve off Foxy Lady was very familiar with these islands and
knew some of the best snorkel sites, so we spent our first full day on the
island doing some fabulous drift snorkelling. Conception Island is
an unspoiled sanctuary for migratory birds and an important feeding habitat for
juvenile green and hawksbill sea turtles. Since 1985 turtles in The Bahamas are
an endangered species and in order to protect them, the University of Florida
research unit has conducted an on going research program in the lagoon. So what
is “turtle tagging” all about? This involves catching the turtle in the
first instance and then, if it has not been identified previously, is
weighed, measured and tagged. With each one uniquely identified, it is easy track their progress!
  Steve gave me his underwater camera, so
some shots of Michael & David and the beautiful coral
   The following day, it was all systems go
and we motored our dinghies for a 2 mile journey to the lagoon on Conception
Island. Once inside the lagoon, Barbara off Foxy Lady
handed us a large net and then we were sent off to catch
turtles.............!!! This isn’t as easy as you may think and after many
failed attempts and getting my wrists twisted with the weight of the net going
underneath the dinghy, we took a different approach. ...... Every once in a
while, the turtles would come up to the surface for air and the more we chased
them, the more they came up for air. It was quite a funny sight to
see, as once the turtles had come up for air, they would then shoot off in the
opposite direction; so at one stage Michael was driving the dinghy round and
round in circles in a real ‘cat and mouse’ chase! Eventually the time came
when the plan came to fruition........ I dropped the net into the
water.................the turtle came up for air............. got
it............and then came the most enormous grin on our faces!! We
took the turtle over to Foxy Lady’s tender, where each captured turtle
was carefully laid on it’s back on the cockpit sole.
So off to catch another and another and
another............and we eventually caught 9 turtles. By this time we had
been joined by a lovely Norwegian couple who were exploring the lagoon in their
dinghy and ended up helping us to find and chase down the turtles. In
total we all caught 16 turtles, so Foxy Lady’s tender ended up in
being completely covered with a carpet of upside-down turtles? The lagoon
had a very shallow reef opening, so we had to leave before the tide went out,
otherwise we would be left” high and dry” in the lagoon for further 6
hours! After anchoring nearby a beach, the process of tagging the turtles
commenced. . Each turtle was measured, weighed and a blue plastic tag
clipped through it’s front leg. At this point a red disposable ribbon was
tied to the same point, which is easily identifiable and saves the same turtles
being caught again! Once the weighing and tagging was complete, we put he
turtles back into the dinghies and took them over to the beach near the lagoon
where they had been caught. It was then a case of carrying them up over the
ridge back to the lagoon (easy with the small ones, but needed two men to carry
the larger ones). Once at the lagoon, the turtles were all eager to make a quick
getaway, although it took a few of them a while to get their
bearings!
   In the lagoon preparing to catch a
turtle. Net poised, but the little devil swam
away............................
   Getting ready for another go
and...................the dark object in front of our dinghy is the small green
turtle and here I come.................
   Preparing the net and outstretched ready
for the
catch..........................
BINGO!
  With turtle safely in the net, we took
it over to Foxy Lady. Happy faces and ready to hand over the
turtle.
   Aaaaah, aren’t they
sweet?
On their backs in our dinghy
  Steve off Motu getting the tags
ready and Marja off Motu asking for a name where the turtle was
caught
 This one is called Anne and was caught
just after the 2nd hole in the Lagoon
  Steve off Foxy Lady measuring
the turtle and then weighing
it.................................
  ............... then the tag
....................................................................and finally
the red ribbon
  Good job done and the turtles don’t seem
too unhappy
A good job done and time for a snorkel,
so Steve off Foxy Lady took us to another reef to explore.
Now by now, I was beginning to get quite comfortable with snorkelling and my
breathing was becoming a lot easier. But, it wasn’t long before my eye
caught sight of a large grey object on the sea bed and I instantly knew it was a
shark. I kept calm and pretended I hadn’t seen it. In fact, Steve
saw the same shark and told me later, it was a 7 or 8ft Bull Shark (not to be
messed with)! So by the time I saw a nurse shark underneath a rock, I had
become quite blasé and as long as they didn’t move, I was quite all right.
Whilst Michael and I were swimming together 2 Barracuda swam by, but then made a
“U” turn and headed back to Michael. He was prepared to take action, but
they were more interested in seeing what David was up to, as he was snorkelling
just beneath us! Later on, whilst chatting with Barbara about
sharks, she unwittingly said there was a theory that sharks are attracted to
yellow known affectionately as “YUM YUM Yellow”. “Yikes”, I cried, “my
fins are yellow”!
We had such a great day, which concluded
with everyone coming aboard (10 of us) Nimue for butternut squash
risotto, which went down very well. Back to the lagoon the following day,
but no luck catching many turtles, as the water was really choppy and murky and
the turtles seemed to have learnt to hide in deeper, shallower water or, above
rocks. Nevertheless Foxy Lady still managed to catch
4!
 All aboard Nimue for
butternut squash risotto
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