Today was census day and from the outset it looked as though it was going to be a long day.
The plan was to conduct a census between Valizas and Esmerelda, a walk of around 18kms and so we got to the bus stop at 5.20am to take the bus to Valizas only to find that the bus that we thought was supposed to go there didn´t. We were assured that another bus would arrive shortly that would take us there. We waited for another hour at the bus stop and still no bus. TIU – This Is Uruguay. So we headed back to base to have another hour sleep and take the 8:45 bus to Esmerelda and make our way through to
Punto Diablo, our Plan B census for the day.
We arrived at Esperelda and the weather was horrendous, with strong winds, big seas and driving rain. We headed north towards Diablo and before long we sighted the first dead turtle, a green turtle in a bad state of decay. After recording the measurements and taking photograph we continued up the beach. Then we sighted 2 very large leatherback turtles, both dead and both well and truly decayed. One had already been surveyed by the team a few days earlier. Other than deceased turtles we sighted a lot of dead fur seals at different stages of maturity, different species of fish and a lot and lots of ocean debris. To be honest I was very surprised by the amount of debris washed up on the beach, and it kind of left me feeling sad about how much waste we all produce and how poorly we recycle it.
After a few hours walk we found a live green turtle washed up on the shore. This was my first time finding a turtle alive and rescuing it. It was in reasonable condition, compared with some of the other turtles I had seen handed in at the base, however it was very weak. We carried it up the beach, and within another hour found a second smaller green turtle. This one was very, very weak but we picked it up and continued on up the beach.
By this point we were totally soaked as the weather hadn´t improved at all. We sighted a decayed whale that the team had spotted previously, and it was well and truly decayed and the smell was absolutely terrible.
Finally, after 5.5 hours of walking in the wind and rain we made it to Diablo, with 2 green turtles. We boarded the bus, with the turtles stowed in the under carriage and we returned to the base. The rest of our volunteer team mates must have known how we were feeling, because when we arrived they gave us coffee and cake that they had made earlier that day. A change of clothes, and a shower and we all felt human again. We sat down later that night to a meal of fresh made empenandas and salad that the rest of the team had prepared for us.
All in all it was a really tough day, but i´m happy I did it. It was challenging, but rewarding to find and hopefully save 2 turtles. And it was a great to see how passionate everyone is here about saving these turtles.
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