Tiger Sharks, Seaturtles, and Birds

Aloha kakahiaka kākou!

This has been an exciting week at Tern Island!  (And please forgive all the formatting errors in this post -- Its giving me fits, but takes hours to upload.)

We witnessed four tiger sharks eating a sea turtle in the lagoon behind the barracks one morning this week.  We do not know if the turtle was alive or dead when it was attacked, but the sharks showed no interest at all in healthy turtles swimming by, nor in albatross sitting on the water nearby -- even "Bob," a turtle with no front fins at all was fine nearby -- so we're guessing the turtle was probably dead to start off with.   Although it may seem cruel on the sharks' part, they have to eat too.... That's their job.

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Still, it was pretty exciting to see some big sharks so excited in the water nearby.  It was a bit of a relief to me see that the sharks really weren't interested in the live, healthy stuff -- and to know that they really must not be all that interested in us, or we would definitely be seeing more of them if they were.

Tiger sharks trying to break open a sea turtle carapace.  The turtle was probably dead when they found it (although we don't know for sure), as the sharks were completely uninterested in the live turtles swimming around -- One turtle swam by within 20m of the sharks milling around, fully within sight and smell, and the sharks were not the least bit interested.  They were definitely interested in the dead one, though!!!

The crew watched four tiger sharks (and a curious white-tipped reef shark) from the roof of the barracks.  We could have gotten better photos in the water, but strangely, no one offered to go diving that morning....  (The dark spot in the lower left is a turtle swimming by.  The four dark spots in the middle are the tiger sharks.)

Team Tern watches from the roof.  Its really nice to have compatriots to share these experiences with.  (And you can see all the hard work that Curt has gone to fixing our roof!!!)

Lindsey Kramer and Sarah Youngren team up to band a Black-footed Albatross chick.  A light cloth over the chick's eyes keeps it calmer.  The hearing protection is necessary because of the ʻewaʻewa (sooty terns).

Bird with an attitude.  ʻewaʻewa (sooty tern) are currently at about 2.5 birds per square meter on Tern -- very roughly about 115,000 ʻewaʻewa on island -- hence why hearing protection is needed.  Photo by Paula L. Hartzell.

 More on a turtle rescue....when the internet allows!

Aloha kakahiaka!

This has been a great seal week -- Some of the seals had a romantic Valentines Day (really!), and we are seeing lots of nice, fat females.  Nice fat females means nice fat babies, and enough fat for the moms to feed them throughout weaning. (The moms don't eat from the time they give birth, until after they wean, so lots of body fat is essential.)  Go fat seals!

This nice fat momma seal is 18 years old, and has had 7 pups so far.  Go Momma!

   It has been rain, rain, rain for quite a while now -- so we race out for a quick snorkel whenever possible.

Little toby guards his junk.

White-tipped reef shark at a distance.

We also had some water-based training with the Miller board.  This type of safety practice is very useful in figuring out what we can and cannot do - and so we all feel more comfortable handling this equipment when we actually need to evacuate a hurt or unconscious person in the water.


Water-based Miller board practice.  FWS Volunteers (clockwise) Kristina Dickson, Melinda Conners, Dan Rapp, and James Macaulay move scenario victim Sarah Youngren safety through the water towards shore.  La Perouse is visible in the background.



Oops!  Kinda got that one backwards.... Now her head is down...  Important lesson that we won't forget next time!



A successful rescue!!  Kristina (in wetsuit) demonstrates the proper way to lift, while the others demonstrate improper lifting technique.  Way to go, Team!  :-)

And last but not least... the Photo of the Week:

Joy on the runway.  Dan Rapp expresses his enthusiasm.  Photo by Sarah Youngren.

Shark Bit Fin!

Ty Benally and his shark-bit fin!  Photo by FWS volunteer Keith Burnett

Ty Benally, Acting Tern Manager, had a big surprise this weekend, when a shark bit his fin!!!  Ty and volunteer Keith Burnett report that a tiger shark came up and bit the fin off, then swam away.  Apparently, the Tern Island Speed Swimming Record was set shortly thereafter. A good reminder that this is, in fact, a wild and remote location, and we humans are not immune to harm. We're glad everyone is safe!!!