Sea Turtles of Baja Experience

From: Carla Curbelo
Email: porti@icepr.com
Date: 03 May 2000
Time: 18:32:43

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Sea turtles of Baja experience June-July 1999

I have always relied on my memory to remember experiences in my life, but scientist say you loose brain cells each day, so I thought that writing this story may serve some purpose later on in my life. A day doesn’t go by in my life without thinking of the beauty and joy I experienced at my two-week volunteer job with Earthwatch. I learned that each person is the most important character in their story because they are your own so this is my story…….

I was engaged in a sort of unusual trip to Bah�a De Los Angeles, Baja California. In part, I wanted to have a hands on experience with nature and I wanted to get away from every day endeavors. I really didn’t know what to expect so I was in for the ride. Certain I am, that this Baja experience felt like candy to my soul. The volunteers met at the San Diego Quality Inn Hotel on the morning of June 23, 1999. Half awake and half asleep, I remember being surrounded by strangers and looking at the hotel lobby filled with bags of all styles. Shortly afterwards we were guided to a 33 feet bus baptized as “Mother Ship”. She sounded more like a coffee maker and I wondered: “If she had the chance to speak what she would say?” She took us to the Bay and brought us back safe. She was an unusual bus all right. Other than the driver’s seat, mother ship had two sofas, two bus chairs, two mattresses and what I later discovered, a bathtub.

We crossed the border between the United States and Mexico at mid-morning and although Mother Ship broke down on us for a while, it was a smooth ride all the way to our final destination – Bah�a De Los Angeles. Our journey through the desert was filled with hot air and blue skies. There was no sign of life, just a paved road ahead between miles of desert sand and high mountains. We were told we had three turtles in captivity already at the Camp so we had work to do next day. The purpose of the project was to learn in-water ecology of the Black Sea turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizii) and its habitat. For the next two-week period we tracked turtles in the Bay upon release and thereafter. We measured, weighed, and photographed turtles after performing a stomach lavage to get food samples. We took skin samples, placed a TDR object on some turtles and transmitters on others. We cleaned the pools where the turtles were kept while in captivity, cooked breakfast and lunch, cleaned the pit toilets, went to town for groceries and enjoyed the scenery during down time. But, what made this trip so special and unique was the discovery of the things I will shortly tell…..

I learned that rich is not the one that has, but the one that doesn’t need. For two weeks we were given the chance to be someone else. I became someone else. After being in a state of shock during the first 24 hours at the camp, I felt at ease. I felt alive and free. It really didn’t matter to me or anyone else who we were or what we did for a living. This was a magical place…”Angels Bay”…A Bay filled with schools of dolphins that had a mind of their own. Where mother earth had something to say and we all had to abide by her rules. On the personal side…well …there was something rejuvenating and peaceful about being alone and having some time to reflect, work, or simply enjoy the quiet. It’s amazing how 17 volunteers, each with a different personality and background, unpaid and with no reward, except for the gain of such a beautiful experience, worked together for a common goal. For the time being we became good friends and we shared a little of each other’s lives, dreams, fears and joys. If I had the opportunity to see the world from each person’s perspective this story would be a masterpiece, but I find myself lacking those thoughts and I can only begin to summarize a few of the experiences we shared. Even though the life at the camp was ruled by simplicity, the complexity of feelings fall short from what I can describe. For how can you begin to explain the rush of blood while trying to release an exhausted pelican caught in one of our nets? The look of a coyote in the middle of the road with his frozen body in front of the bus headlights unable to react at the danger lying right in front of him? The funny lizards rushing through the hot sand and the male sea lion, like “whistle blowers”, announcing our presence as danger to his heard? We lacked resources and yet life was abundant. All of our necessities were filled and more. If I think about it, we got a lot more than we bargained for. We had food, plenty of water to drink and more. I cherished the ability to jump out of the boat three times until I had enough. Having the time to enjoy the wind blowing in my face and the peaceful mornings while most were asleep. I remember at night going to sleep and looking at the dark sky with trillions of shining stars acting as our sleeping covers. The sound of whales serving as music to our ears. As I closed my eyes, I worried I wouldn’t wake up on time to see the sun rise and each morning…well… I sat on my sleeping cot and enjoyed the birds take flight while the sun made tricks turning the black sky into various shades of pink, blue and orange colors. Not so distant were 14 volcanic islands: Cabeza de Caballo, Gemelitos, Isla Ventana, Cerraja, Llave, Flecha, Pata, Bata, Rosita, Piojo, El Borrego, Calabera and Smith’s Island and at times, the water was so calm, it seemed you could walk over to the islands.

I’d like to remember the smell of coffee every morning, the bran bread French toasts and peanut butter sandwiches with hot berry tea, the shooting star, the popsicle, the cake and the smiles on people’s faces. I don’t want to forget the saying “I must be special or I wouldn’t be at the top of the food chain”. The lighthouse riddle. Jumping in the dark blue waters of what we wanted to call the 9,000 feet Whale Channel Trench. The night we got our first turtle. Punta Don Juan and the scary feeling of stepping on a stingray. The squid swimming on shore to their death. The long walks to the lighthouse and the seabirds flying away from the sound of the motorboats. The scuba diving, the Mexican food, the time spent fixing the boats at the beach and the cleaning of the nets. But most important, I learned that each one of us is a specimen of our own. We exist, breathe and relate to others based on our needs. Whether it’s because we feel the need for love, compassion, acceptance, security, fear or all of these together. We share our lives with others for the sake of being and we are as important as others make us.

I will always be grateful to those that made my journey an unforgettable one. Although I cherished the solitude I found myself wrapped in many times, it wouldn’t have been as fun and as joyful without the Earthwatch volunteers that shared their lives and feelings during the two-week period we spent in Bah�a De Los Angeles. And I ask each one of you if you would not like for once to be sitting on top of the world with your legs hanging free……..

Sincerely,

Carla Curbelo-Terjek Earthwatch volunteer