Monday at Tern Island

I usually am up by about 6:30, fix a pot of coffee, eat breakfast and read or write for a short time. Today was supposed to be a holiday for us all, but several of us had planned a half day of work in trade for time off on another day. As I was leaving the barracks a crew was being put together to move an adult sea turtle back to the water. Monica, the person doing the entrapment walk, had found a turtle on the runway and it needed to be moved to the water quickly. The first five people she found, including me, coaxed the turtle onto a small piece of netting with handles like a stretcher and we placed it on our trusty golf cart. With 3 of us jogging along side and Monica driving, we got the turtle close to the beach and then carried it to the water. The turtle was moving well when it was released and it immediately entered the water. After this exciting start I went on to my normal seabird reproductive success plots. At lunch time there was talk of a snorkel trip to Shark Island. This trip came together about 1:30 and 7 of us took the boat about 4 miles north across the atoll to our destination. We snorkeled about 2 1/2 hours in beautiful coral heads and channels. The high point for me was a 5 foot White-tipped Reef Shark sleeping on the bottom about 10 feet below us. While we watched the shark an adult Green Sea Turtle swam within 18 inches of me, totally unconcerned with my presence. When we left Shark Island we approached Tern from the northeast, so I got to see my home away from home from a new perspective. It was an incredible day.