Highlights of Day 4:
Today we enjoyed a late breakfast interrupted by an American Black Vulture cleaning its wings on a perch next to the comedor. Each group retreated to the lab to finish identifying insects, plants, and birds that they had seen or collected in the field.
In mid-afternoon, we explored farther into the reserve by hiking through the woods to the next inlet. We arrived and enjoyed beautiful views of the namesake of Cabo Blanco, meaning “White Island,” a small island off the coast of the reserve that is painted white by the guano of the brown footed boobies that nest there. We learned that one boobie nests on every square meter of the protected island, and saw hundreds of hermit crabs, limpets (not barnacles), and sea slugs. At lunch, we all agreed on how refreshing it has been to “unplug” over these past several days without cell service on site. Afterwards, some went snorkeling for the last time to cool off and say goodbye to the beautiful fish and animals that call the intertidal zone their home.
The afternoon consisted of troubleshooting R code and polishing up presentations for the evening mini conference highlighting and celebrating the research that we did over the past four days. We were treated to cupcakes that were graciously made by the wonderful cooks at the reserve for dessert and headed back to the lab after dinner. Each group gave a 10 minute presentation on their work and the floor was opened for questions and discussion. As quick as a flash, we packed everything up for an early next day departure and went to bed dreaming of the next field station: a beautiful high elevation wet cloud forest.
Rose & Thorn:
Rose- Coming across a Jesus Christ Lizard on our afternoon hike (watch them walk on water here)
Thorn– Bidding farewell to Eddie, Santi, & Andres 🙁
Vibe of the day: Productive.
Quote of the day: “People are still putting toilet paper in the toilet!” -Lindsay
Scientist Spotlight: Abby Sotomayor (Senior at Colgate University, Biology & Environmental Studies)
One favorite childhood memory in nature?
My brother and I used to build teepee forts out of sticks in the woods behind our home to play in.
What have you enjoyed most about this trip so far?
Snorkeling in Cabo Blanco was really fun because I like swimming and it cools you off. And we saw cool stuff like fish, eels, and coral.
Dream job?
Something in the field of sustainability and conservation.
*Hi mom and Archie! 🙂
