May 7, Wednesday, Day 29: I had another epic crab-shooting experience. I captured some great close-ups of light-foot crabs eating orange land-crab parts. Also shot a long sequence of an orange crab dragging back the body of another orange crab. It must have dragged it 50 yards then carried it down vertically into its lagoon lair.
After the long haul, the crab body and claws were not eaten. It made me think that maybe this dead crab was part of the other crab's kin, but most likely, it was saving the crab body for later eating.
I shot myself talking about the crabs then went to break down my camp when I spotted two moorhen. I shot two feeding moorhen best I could, they are very shy, and also shot a juvenile curlew feeding on flies.
I broke down my temporary camp and drove the skiff back to base camp. Clouds along the horizon were dark, so I walked the beach with still cameras, shooting booby behavior. I had great light near sunset. I cooked spaghetti and then storm number one arrived. I reviewed tapes and tape number 412 shot with the Canon is very important for crab natural history.
May 8, Thursday, Day 30: During the night, three more huge rain storms hit my camp. The birds crapped all over my water collection tarp so I hope I don't regret collecting water …
There is a deep hole over by my trash site. This hole is lined with metal and is about eight feet wide and 12 feet deep. It must have been a fuel container left over from war times, but who really knows.
Since booby need to flap their wings ten or twelve times before takeoff, a bird that falls into this hole has no chance of escape. I saw a bird down in the hole and about ten dead bird bodies. The bird was just looking around, puzzled, not knowing how to escape.
One of the RP boat guys told me that he pulled a bird out with his fishing pole and I tried the same tactic with good results. The bird was pulled out after about a half dozen casts and he slowly walked away, probably amazed by the experience that a fishing line actually saved its life. I feel good about that!
Late morning and I brought topside and UW gear up to a tide pool area to look for eel and crab. Could not believe it: saw a crab being chased by an eel when I first arrived. I was able to capture a few shots of eel and crab but my camera techniques were too shaky. I was pretty far back, away from the action.
I grabbed the underwater camera and somehow the battery was dead I had to sit in the shade for a while before I went back to camp for lunch. Working outside without any protection in the environment really zaps my strength.
May 10, Saturday, Day 32: The tent held but the wind shifted and I had to move my cot to avoid the horizontal rain. Lots of things got damp but not wet. The Sony showed a warning light in the viewfinder so I pulled out the tape. I scouted areas to shoot this morning; it was overcast, dead calm.
Suddenly a big shark long-liner is working close to camp and I have safety on my mind. The boat looks like a white Chinese junk and I taped it on ##413. I lowered my tent poles in hopes that they would not see my camp. I hope they don't come ashore.
More big rains coming soon and one half of the sky is dark and I am on the dark side. If and when it rains, I will try and video-tape plastic army men flowing with the currents down to the lagoon. The rain did not come…
I hailed the Excel and talked with Captain Sean, voicing my concerns. Sean asked me if the boat was giving me any trouble and, to be honest, they were doing nothing wrong, but I felt uneasy. I asked Sean if he would drive his boat by the junk and he obliged. That way, the men on the junk would know that I was not alone.
Before I had time to react, I looked over my shoulder and three guys were approaching me. I quickly grabbed my small video camera and walked over to introduce myself. Two guys were swimming in the water, probably looking for lobster, and the other three guys grouped around me. They were from Costa Rica, the La Fortuna shark fishing boat out of Punta Arenas. They were all barefoot and polite, but I felt uneasy when they were grouping around me and I backed up a little so that no one could get behind me.
One man had a heavy machete and opened a coconut that had already started to sprout green leaves. The inside meat was about the size of a softball. He split it into quarters and handed me a piece. It felt like a sponge and tasted salty, good actually.
These guys were out fishing shark for a month and came ashore for a break and to look for lobsters in the tide pools. Glad our first meeting was uneventful and also glad the Excel came over to let the other boat know that I was not alone. Although the Excel had nothing to do with me, my visitors did not know that fact.
The men walked down the beach and my overhead light was gray and crappy. Shot some booby egg scenes that were right near the ammunition dumps. I was also able to shoot one good mating sequence when the light turned a little better.
I hope to work the guano mound areas and the newer shipwreck tomorrow. I was hesitant to do that today because of the other boat (which looks very poor, barely seaworthy for a one-month trip).
I found some nice pink glass and an older bottle north of the LST. This place also has more plastic army men and toys than anywhere else on the atoll. Most toys are found along the current line of the shore or mixed into brown booby nests. I think it is very interesting that booby have adopted these strange colorful pieces of plastic and incorporated them into their nest-building and are using them for their breeding lures.
It got windy again; rain very possible. I was shooting a palm frond with about 100 crabs eating it and was surprised to see the five Costa Rican guys. They had walked up the beach and were suddenly standing right behind me with a bag full of lobster. They offered me one and I gladly accepted! They walked over the ammunition and I warned them about explosions, but they did not seem to understand. They did not stay for long and their boat departed near sunset.
I am having lobster and corn for dinner. I feel bad about judging these men before I met them, but I cannot be too careful out here without defense. I did not have much luck video-taping rats at night.
May 13, Tuesday, Day 35: My eyes felt as if they were in square boxes last night. The problem was certainly caused by the heat and the need to squint. Sunglasses don't work well here because sweat pours off my brow and fogs the lens. It is so bright, sometimes in the field I have to go around and look at things with one eye closed. Both of my eyes feel better this morning.
It rained hard last night, unfortunately for short durations and without any wind. Don't think I caught much water; I will know more after sunrise when I get out of bed …I captured seven liters total. Not a big score but enough water for a day.
I met up with the Excel guys in the early A.M. and had French toast. Nice boat, great galley, nice people, good to meet Sean for the first time and put a face to the voice.
I saw that three birds by my camp have baby chicks now and I would expect many more chicks to arrive soon. I took the kayak and two video cameras to Tern Island at 3:30 and I captured some nice crab vs. tiny tern. I shot a crab feeding on an open egg.
I made it home after sunset and prepared a spaghetti supper. The sky is clear tonight with racing winds cutting through the camp. Warm again tomorrow, rain…it's anybody's guess.
Part 5: Going home >>
Read Lance Milbrand's island journal.
Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part One >>
Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Two >>
Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Three >>
Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Four >>
Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Five >>
