Today for work we went to monitor the juvenile shark populations on the east side of the island.... yes, tough work. And for as much as I adore sharks, that
wasn't the best part of the day..... The best part of the day was heading out of the harbour and setting off up the east coast of Santa Cruz. No picture could ever capture the beauty of this scene. As the early morning sun was still rising in the sky and burning off the rainclouds from last night, the volcanic peak of the island remained shrouded in a gray blanket as streams of sunlight shone through and illuminated the green landscape. The coast just east of Academy Bay is a sheer cliff of black volcanic rock with a long shallow shore, and so when the swells roll into this section of the island, they don't simply crash against the cliffs.... the waves roll in for a looooong way in a gigantic frothy curl of water before breaking in a magnificent spray of white and blue against the black rocks. With this vista before my eyes, and with the wind in my face, I think I found complete and utter satisfaction.....
So, back to sharkies! Today we had to set out a net (in three different locations up the east coast in certain mangrove lagoons), and when we caught a little sharkie, they were brought on board, measured, weighed, given a numbered tag and a microchip under the skin, and a DNA sample taken from the dorsal fin (my job), all in under two minutes. We even caught some that had been previously tagged, and so we were able to tell how much they'd grown in the meantime. As a recent raid of a vessel illegally fishing sharks in the Galapagos islands goes to show, it is important to keep an eye on the populations of these apex predators. The demand for shark fin products has put a real dent in the numbers of these awesome creatures all over the world.... and as I was taking the little snip of DNA samples from these little guys fins, I couldn't help shaking my head and thinking I should have had some chopstick and broth nearby. Sick joke, I know
.... (really sick).
(sigh)... what else? Oh yes, I have started reading Darwin's Origin of Species. I'm on page 3. Only some 600 or so more pages to go. Tomorrow is a long weekend, and I've no idea what I'm going to get up to (reading, evidently). I'm gutted, as the scuba shop that offers interns a discount is full up for the whole weekend... maybe I'll try to go to Floreana if there's still room on the boat.... not much else to report on right now.
Besos y abrazos de Galapagos!
Today for work we went to monitor the juvenile shark populations on the east side of the island.... yes, tough work. And for as much as I adore sharks, that wasn't the best part of the day..... The best part of the day was heading out of the harbour and setting off up the east coast of Santa Cruz. No picture could ever capture the beauty of this scene. As the early morning sun was still rising in the sky and burning off the rainclouds from last night, the volcanic peak of the island remained shrouded in a gray blanket as streams of sunlight shone through and illuminated the green landscape. The coast just east of Academy Bay is a sheer cliff of black volcanic rock with a long shallow shore, and so when the swells roll into this section of the island, they don't simply crash against the cliffs.... the waves roll in for a looooong way in a gigantic frothy curl of water before breaking in a magnificent spray of white and blue against the black rocks. With this vista before my eyes, and with the wind in my face, I think I found complete and utter satisfaction.....
So, back to sharkies! Today we had to set out a net (in three different locations up the east coast in certain mangrove lagoons), and when we caught a little sharkie, they were brought on board, measured, weighed, given a numbered tag and a microchip under the skin, and a DNA sample taken from the dorsal fin (my job), all in under two minutes. We even caught some that had been previously tagged, and so we were able to tell how much they'd grown in the meantime. As a recent raid of a vessel illegally fishing sharks in the Galapagos islands goes to show, it is important to keep an eye on the populations of these apex predators. The demand for shark fin products has put a real dent in the numbers of these awesome creatures all over the world.... and as I was taking the little snip of DNA samples from these little guys fins, I couldn't help shaking my head and thinking I should have had some chopstick and broth nearby. Sick joke, I know.... (really sick). 
(sigh)... what else? Oh yes, I have started reading Darwin's Origin of Species. I'm on page 3. Only some 600 or so more pages to go. Tomorrow is a long weekend, and I've no idea what I'm going to get up to (reading, evidently). I'm gutted, as the scuba shop that offers interns a discount is full up for the whole weekend... maybe I'll try to go to Floreana if there's still room on the boat.... not much else to report on right now.
Besos y abrazos de Galapagos! 
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