Good Times....Yesterday

Yesterday started out much the same as most others this week, we had presentations. This one was all about how to write a research proposal and paper. I had a hard time because I have already written quite a few but it was good to refresh my brain. Then we took a trip to the Guana Tolomato Matanzas national Estuarine Research Reserve for another a few more presentations on the work they perform there and some volunteer opportunities.

They had an amazing educational display in their main office that had so many sculptures of sea life and all different kinds of samples in drawers. They also had a lot of interactive displays that showed migrations of different species, binoculars set up to show a bald eagles nest far off in the distance, a trivia game, and a life saltwater tank. A lot of great information was presented and they even discussed their (ahem drum-roll please) sea turtle volunteer activities!!!! Right up my alley, though not as intensive as what I did in Costa Rica. They even said they had a nest of Leatherback eggs. Now if anyone has been in my room, they can see that right there on my bucket list it says "hold a Leatherbacks hand". Now for those of you that don't know, Leatherback sea turtles are the largest living species of sea turtle. They have leathery backs that are not a hard shell because they need to be able to compress their bodies from the extremely deep dives they swim. They are endangered and are crazy big. They average 6 feet in length and weigh anywhere from 500 to 1,500 pounds!!!!! They are also one of the few animals that feeds exclusively on jellyfish. So the potential for me to see some hatching and coming out of the water? WHAT!!! HELL YES!!! I am going to see if there is any way I can volunteer during the time they will be hatching (by the way their eggs are the size of baseballs) and be there to witness it. We will see what happens by you can bet my fingers along with my whole body is crossed.

"The Trash Lady"- a sculpture made of trash found by the GTM reserve

Trash that has been discovered in the belly of dead sea turtles on the reserve

Close up

Life size hanging display of a Right whale and Bottlenose dolphin

Manta Ray

 

 So then after our little adventure to the estuary, we had some frozen yogurt and decided to explore the Club House here on campus.  

Epic selfie of roomie Elyse and I

The Club House is basically a giant student lounge available to students and it is pretty darn awesome. It has a pool outside, games and giant tv inside, along with free arcade games and other fun activities. We enjoyed laying out in the amazing sun, and even though it was 6 pm, it was still so light and hot that it was perfect pool weather. I was talking about wanting to get my tan on and one of the girls, Amanda, was like, "Do you even tan?" Ok, so apparently I am so white right now it is hard for some people to believe I even can tan. But just all of you wait. I fell asleep on one of the pool chairs and I got this beauty: 

Overall: another great day here in Orange country!