EarthBound3
Malaysian Bat Conservation Research Unit
Journal
and Pictures from Malaysia
Daily Log: 4.18.2005
Today was our first day in the field! The group leaves to go into the field at 8am, and if you want breakfast itıs your option to get up prior to 8 and get it. I opted to not have breakfast, because those extra 15 minutes of sleep really make a difference! I am in a group with a volunteer from Europe named Paul. Paul is really good at navigating so this put me at ease! Since it was going to be our first time catching bats, the two groups were fused into one and Tigga, the Principal Investigator, was our leader.
There were ten traps to check along our grid line and we checked them quite quickly. Out of the ten traps, we had a total of 5 bats. What we do in the event of catching a bat is record the trap number and place that bat into a canvas bag for later examination. It was not as hot as I figured, but still it was quite toasty, probably in the 80ıs. After we collected all of the data from the bats in the field, we released them back into the wild. It is much better for the bats caught in the morning to not be taken back to camp and held there until dark. Therefore, all data-collecting supplies are brought into the field and we work on the bat while sitting on the ground or on a log.
After we released all the bats, we ventured back to camp. Everyone, including myself, was a little tired so we all lounged and relaxed until lunch. Lunch, of course, was fabulous. I had a mixture of spinach and green beans with a spicy sauce overtop. The food here is so flavorful and there has definitely been a kickı to every platter. I am still learning how to deal with spicy foods so I am taking it slowly!
Shortly after lunch, I went and took a nap. I was surprised I actually fell asleep. It is so hard to sleep during the day when so many exciting things are happening all around me. Around 3:30, Jim, Tyler, Arsen, Ainur, and Hannah played a game. The game was one that Jim set up where we share ten things about ourselves. It was fun and it was nice to learn things about Ainur and Hannah that I hadnıt known up until that point.
The game lasted about an hour and at 4:30 we had to go into the main bungalow for a talk given by Tigga. The talk was about all the various types of bats in the area, what threatens them, what their habitats are, and the sorts of things they like to eat. Another interesting thing she told us that I wasnıt aware of was that in Chinese cultures, the bat is a symbol of luck. Its seems like a lot of people think bats are some sort of pest, and it was refreshing to know that they are very much appreciated in some cultures.
Dinner came and went without a hitch, and the first group of people went out into the jungle to collect bats. I am not going into the jungle tonight so I will process all of the data from the bats they have collected and brought back to camp. They should be back any minute, and hopefully with many bats!
I will be sure to let you know how all the data collection went tomorrow, because I know I will be much too tired to tell you about it later tonight.
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April
17, 2005
Last night, 6 bats were brought in from the field at around 10pm and we were done handling them by 11:00. I said I would tell you about how the data collection went and it was very interesting. I was given the opportunity to cut a piece of tissue off of the bats wing membrane. The device used to cut the same is the size of a pencil and has a circular razor at the end, which extracts a tiny piece of tissue. The tissue sample will be later used for DNA analysis. I was a little nervous making the puncture, but Trevor assured me it wouldnıt harm the bat. After all of their information had been processed, we placed them into their canvas bags for safe keeping during the night. Before doing this, Tigga usually gives them a drink of water with an eye dropper so they are ok until morning.
This morning, we were leaving the field station at exactly 8 oıclock. I was in a group with Paul, Tyler, and Ainur. Instead of doing bat collection, we were doing habitat surveys. It was much hotter today than it has been so itıs very nice that itıs a few degrees cooler inside the jungle.
The way that habitat surveys work is a 50 meter by 50 meter square is created with rope. Then, within the 50x50 square, the area is divided into 3 sections. The way the sections are created is by tying off 2 other ropes equal distanced apart. The creation of the work area isnıt so much important as what is done once we are inside it.
The main purpose of the survey is to accumulate as much data about the size of the trees that are inside the designated area. Each tree is classified into a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, category depending on how big around it is. We are given rope with measurements on it that once wrapped around the girth of the tree will tell us which category itıs placed in.
Once a tree has been measured, you call out One! Two! Three! etc and Tigga records the tree size. This all sounds a little confusing but the pictures will give you an idea of what we do. Itıs important to know the tree size, because the information will show which size tree has a more concentrated percentage of bats. For example, if there are tons of bats roosting in an area that has more trees that are number 2 in size, then it will show that bats prefer medium to smaller sized trees.
After we did the vegetation survey, we headed back to the bungalows. Lunch was just being put on the table so we were back just in time. After lunch I crashed out for about 2 hours, and it was a sauna in my room so I woke up mid-afternoon. We had a lecture given by Tigga about different features found in the bats and obvious ways to identify them. It was a lot of information and Iım glad we will have a key to the bats when we are the lab. The lecture bumped right up till dinner. Iım going out on the late jungle shift to collect bats tonight. We leave in a few minutes so I have to hurry up and get ready to go out! I will be sure to tell you how many bats we collect!
Goodnight!
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on
April 19, 2005
In this log, I would like to profile one of our community fellows. Her name is Ainur and she is 18 years old. She recently turned 18 on March 3rd. Right now, she awaiting offers from some Malaysian universities, and she has an interview at University Butre Malaysia this upcoming Friday. Before graduating, she went to an all-girls boarding school which was about 5 hours from her house. At university, she would like to study Pharmaceuticals, because she loves chemistry and she thinks itıs a good way to help serve the community.
Ainur found out about the Earthwatch community fellowship through her mother who is a teacher and a member of the Malaysian Nature Society. The Malaysian Nature Society is a group of people who educate others about the importance of nature and how dangerous pollution can be. One of the activities they have done was studying water quality in different lakes and rivers. Her concern is shared with the government, because they are also trying ways to reduce water pollution in Malaysia.
Ainurıs family consists of 2 sisters. She has one older sister, who is the age of 22, and a younger sister, the age of 15. They all play piano, but she has been playing the longest. Each of them also share a strong interest in singing and they would often sing together with their mother. (I wish I could sing as well as Ainur, because her voice is so beautiful!) Her mother is a Math and Science teacher, which is probably why Ainur is so interested in pursuing a field in pharmaceuticals.
Some of her other interests besides singing and playing the piano are reading and surfing the internet. Ainur also likes Bollywood films. Bollywood films are films from India which are just as elaborate as our Hollywood films. I have only seen a few Bollywood films but when Ainur goes home to have her interview she will bring some films back to the field station with her. I am very excited to see them, because the ones I have seen have been amazing.
I am very excited to be sharing a bungalow with Ainur. She is very interesting and has a lot of knowledge about Malaysian culture. I think myself, Ainur, and Hannah will have a lot of fun spending these two weeks with one another. I know this log was about Ainur, but in due time Hannah will be telling you more about herself in a future log!
See you!
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on
April 20, 2005
So, the way that this project works is the team of volunteers is divided into groups. There are two volunteers to a group, and each of the group names are names of bats. There are four groups and they go as follows:
Papillosa: Paul and Me
Cervinus: Tyler and Ainur
Trifiliousis: Arsen and Hannah
Intermedia: Jim and Lance
Each night, 2 different groups go out into the jungle to do bat collection, while the teams who havenıt gone out do data collection. It is very nice that the project is split up this way, otherwise I feel like everyone would begin to get antsy if they did the same thing every night! Usually, each team has about 6 or 7 traps to check on the grid in the jungle. These traps can have anywhere from 0 to dozens of bats in them. Luckily, we have only come across traps that were occupied by 7 at one time!
Here in Peninsular Malaysia there are many different scientific families of bats. Here is the list of them, and a brief description of each bat:
- Pteropodidae - They have a claw on the 2nd digit, simple ears with outer margin forming an unbreakable ring, dog or fox like face. Their forearm length is between 40-220 mm
- Nycteridae - Tail ends in a T or V shaped cartilage enclosed in interfemoral membrane, deep slit in face, ears are large and separated at base
- Molossidae- Tail extends for at least half its length beyond the end of interfemoral membrane
- Emballonuridae - Tail is shorter than the interfemoral membrane and protrudes from the middle of the dorsal side of the membrane
- Vespertilionidae - Tail, if present is fully enclosed in interfemoral membrane (tip may just appear to extend beyond, but it is within the membrane). Plain nose.
- Megadermatidae - Tragus long, large rounded ears joined across top of upper head, upper incisors are lacking.
- Rhinolophidae - Median noseleaf (behind nostrils) has raised portion, the sella. Posterior noseleaf rises to a long lancet-shaped point.
- Hipposideridae - Median leaf, low cushion-like structure expanded laterally without a sella. Posterior leaf is low and rounded, usually divided by vertical septa into several pockets.
Your heads all must be spinning right now, and believe me when I say that mine is too! One part of being a field biologist is getting all of the scientific language and terms down. I am learning (slowly but surely!) so hopefully these pictures of the key we use will be helpful in trying to understand the different species. (And, maybe your teacher can print out a diagram off the internet that shows some of these items referred to in the key.)
If a team is doing bat collections at night they bring all the bats back to the lab. During a morning shift of bat collection, the bats caught overnight are processed out in the field. It would be too stressful on the bats to be in the bags all morning and afternoon, so they release them as quickly as possible.
Every so often, a team has to do data entry. Data entry requires taking all of the information that has been written down on the information sheets and typing it onto an excel spread sheet. Each team does data entry anywhere from an hour to two hours. There is a lot of data to be logged into the computer and my team (Papillosa) knows this which is why Paul and I are fastest at typing in all the data. J
It is almost time for me to go out with my wonderful teammate, Paul. So I shall be saying goodbye for now!!!
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April 21, 2005
Daily Log: 4.23.2005
I was in the morning shift to collect bats. We had 12 traps to check over the two hours we were out in the forest. We processed the bats while in the field as usual and some of the three major bats we collected were:
KEIN- Kerivoula intermedia
KEPA- Kerivoula papillosa
and HICE- Hipposideros cervinus
Going into the field every morning is refreshing and at the same time relaxing. Despite that fact that itıs very hot, itıs amazing to be in the middle of a jungle throbbing with wildlife. There are so many sounds, smells, and colors that I have never seen before. In addition to all of these sounds, smells, and colors there are other things I have never seen before. By other things, I mean spiders the size of small cows and scorpions ready to kill. Okay I exaggerated on the spiders being the size of small cows and the scorpions ready to kill, but there are huge spiders and scorpions. I was the lucky volunteer who experienced these two gifts of natureı within a 10 minute time span.
I will set the tone for you; I was walking with Trevor and Paul checking the traps. I was the last in the line, and we had to lift ourselves over a fallen log. Over went Trevor, then Paul. After Paul, I was approaching the log and I spotted a scorpion. Of course I hesitated and make a commotion. Paul didnıt see it because he was on the other side of the log. After about 5 minutes of talking me into going over it, Paul extended his arm and heaved me over in one swift motion.
Once we checked another trap, we met up with Tylerıs group. While we were at the trap with Tyler and his group he decided to point out a spider relaxing on a branch that was supporting the trap. I nearly lost myself. The spider was HUGE. Its abdomen was bigger then a quarter and its legs would have extended longer than my fingers (if I put my hand next to it). I am crazy scared of spiders so it was at that moment when I wanted to run straight out of the jungle.
After the morning survey was over we went back to the bungalows for some rest and relaxation. Around 5 oıclock Arsen, Jim, Hannah, Lance, Tyler, Paul, and I hopped in a van and headed over to a night market. The night market was AWESOME. It was bustling with tons and tons of people. There were booths set up that were selling anything from food to sunglasses to soap to sneakers. I had a lot of fun walking around with Hannah. She was my translator and helped me find some things I was looking for. I really wanted to get henna, which I eventually ended up finding. I also bought some perfume and traditional face wash (Itıs a powder you add water to, I believe its some sort of rice/flower powder).
There were many traditional foods for sale, and we bought some fruit, curried potato puffs, desserts, mangos, and tamale-like things. The curried potato puffs were SOOOO good, and of course they were a little spicy. After the night market, we came back to the field station just in time for dinner! Dinner was excellent (as always), it was shredded tofu and fish. I didnıt have the fish but I was told it was great, as was the tofu I did have. Now I have some time before I go out on the nigh shift. Hopefully I wonıt run into more spiders and scorpions!
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April 22, 2005
I was in the morning shift to collect bats. We had 12 traps to check over the two hours we were out in the forest. We processed the bats while in the field as usual and some of the three major bats we collected were:
KEIN- Kerivoula intermedia
KEPA- Kerivoula papillosa
and HICE- Hipposideros cervinus
Going into the field every morning is refreshing and at the same time relaxing. Despite that fact that itıs very hot, itıs amazing to be in the middle of a jungle throbbing with wildlife. There are so many sounds, smells, and colors that I have never seen before. In addition to all of these sounds, smells, and colors there are other things I have never seen before. By other things, I mean spiders the size of small cows and scorpions ready to kill. Okay I exaggerated on the spiders being the size of small cows and the scorpions ready to kill, but there are huge spiders and scorpions. I was the lucky volunteer who experienced these two gifts of natureı within a 10 minute time span.
I will set the tone for you; I was walking with Trevor and Paul checking the traps. I was the last in the line, and we had to lift ourselves over a fallen log. Over went Trevor, then Paul. After Paul, I was approaching the log and I spotted a scorpion. Of course I hesitated and make a commotion. Paul didnıt see it because he was on the other side of the log. After about 5 minutes of talking me into going over it, Paul extended his arm and heaved me over in one swift motion.
Once we checked another trap, we met up with Tylerıs group. While we were at the trap with Tyler and his group he decided to point out a spider relaxing on a branch that was supporting the trap. I nearly lost myself. The spider was HUGE. Its abdomen was bigger then a quarter and its legs would have extended longer than my fingers (if I put my hand next to it). I am crazy scared of spiders so it was at that moment when I wanted to run straight out of the jungle.
After the morning survey was over we went back to the bungalows for some rest and relaxation. Around 5 oıclock Arsen, Jim, Hannah, Lance, Tyler, Paul, and I hopped in a van and headed over to a night market. The night market was AWESOME. It was bustling with tons and tons of people. There were booths set up that were selling anything from food to sunglasses to soap to sneakers. I had a lot of fun walking around with Hannah. She was my translator and helped me find some things I was looking for. I really wanted to get henna, which I eventually ended up finding. I also bought some perfume and traditional face wash (Itıs a powder you add water to, I believe its some sort of rice/flower powder).
There were many traditional foods for sale, and we bought some fruit, curried potato puffs, desserts, mangos, and tamale-like things. The curried potato puffs were SOOOO good, and of course they were a little spicy. After the night market, we came back to the field station just in time for dinner! Dinner was excellent (as always), it was shredded tofu and fish. I didnıt have the fish but I was told it was great, as was the tofu I did have. Now I have some time before I go out on the nigh shift. Hopefully I wonıt run into more spiders and scorpions!
Peace,
Jamie
A Note From Hannah:
Selamat sejahtera!ı Hello there! My name is Hannah and Iım one of the fellowship volunteers in the Malaysian Bats Conservation Research Unit. It has been a really great experience for me to be here and help out with the research work. I guess I was just lucky to get chosen as not many Malaysian teens have this kind of opportunity. I mean, having to work with real scientists has never crossed my mind before and now Iım working side by side with them! It is definitely amazing if you come to think of it.
I found out about this expedition through one of my family friends from the Malaysian Nature Society, which happens to be the society I am currently active in. He called in, asked me, and I agreed instantly. (I mean, skipping school for two weeks have absolutely NOTHING to do with it):D. I had to fill out some forms and write essays before getting to be picked by Earthwatch. Trust me, it might feel like a burden to answer all these questions and write essays but it is definitely worth it in the end.
I have never, ever handled bats before and initially, like most people, I thought that they were big, ugly, scary, vampire-like creatures. On the first night of the trip itself, we had the chance to see these flying mammals and oh boy, was I surprised! They were so tiny and cute! They looked really harmless and face it, the worst thing they can do is to bite you (provided you had your rabies shot). I got bitten once and they had small teeth so it wasnıt painful at all. Just a mild shock but, yeah, I was excited with the first bat-bite! Too bad it didnıt leave a scar. I wouldıve really wanted to show it off to my friends back home:P.
All right I guess Iıll leave now. Itıs great to be writing to you guys over there and hope you donıt get the wrong impression bout bats being connected to vampires and all. Have a great day. Selamat tinggal!(Goodbye!) -Hann
Pictures from the field on
April 23 2005
One of the research projects done here at the field station is radio tracking. The radio tracking project is run by a scientist named David. I have had the pleasure of doing radio tracking with him and itıs really interesting to be able to follow the movement of the bats from one part of the grid to another.
An assignment that goes along with his project is doing all night tracking of a bat that he is studying. Last night was the first all-night shift he was doing, and Team Papillosa was right along side him for the ride. We left camp immediately after we had dinner, which was around 6:30. An all-night shift means exactly that, we go out at 6:30pm and come back at 7:00 am. I knew it was going to be a long night so myself and my teammate Paul stacked up on the amount of goodies we were taking.
The first task is going to the roosting sight of the bat that we were tracking. Itıs easy to figure out if the bat is in there or not because it has a radio antennae attached to its back. The radio antenna sends frequencies to the receiver we carry along with us. We got to the roost at about 7:30 and by 7:45 the bat had left the roosting tree. She was flying around overhead of us for over an hour, dodging in-between all the trees.
Every five minutes, the receiver must be turned on and it will make beeping noises when it is pointed in the direction of the bat. This gives us a general idea of where she is foraging and how quickly sheıs moving. We also take the compass bearing of which direction the bat is in as well. All of this information will be put into a larger data base which will give David an idea of how quickly the bat is moving and when/where itıs foraging the most.
Everything was going wonderful until about 10:00. All night we saw lightening in the sky and heard the rumblings of thunder but it didnıt seem to be coming our way. Then it seemed almost suddenly the rain started pouring down on us. I took cover under a plastic sheet and protected all the bags we had. David had an umbrella, and it was impossible to continue taking readings so he just watched the rain. David and I sat there for about a half an hour before we decided it was not going to stop any time soon. So we put all our valuables into plastic bags and stated the 30 minute walk back to camp.
Unfortunately, the night was cut short, but it was definitely a unique experience to be out in the rainforest in the middle of a thunderstorm! I know there will be more opportunities for us to go out and do all night radio tracking before we leave which will hopefully prove to be more successful then the first try. All in all it was a great experience and I canıt wait to go out again.
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April 24 2005
Today
was a day of habitat work and late-night bat shift. The habitat work went
really well. It seemed as if this location we were working at was much denser
than the locations we had done habitat in previously. So, this meant that it
took a little bit longer to finish. After a while of calling out the size of
the trees, Trevor, a student researcher decided to spice up the survey and turn
it into a game. Points were awarded by the size of the tree ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
team, so Papillosa won. Paul and I were very excited and did not hesitate
letting the losing team (Cervinus) know we were the winners. J
It was all in good fun though, so no one on Cervinus was too upset.
We
finished doing the habitat around noon, which meant we would possibly miss
lunch if we didnıt haul ourselves quickly back to the field station. Luckily,
we didnıt miss lunch, because it was a lovely concoction of spicy noodles and
veggies. After lunch I took a nap, as did mostly everyone else. They day was
very humid, possibly because there seemed to be thunderclouds off in the
distance. I slept right up till dinner time which is when I began to feel a
little ill. I figured it was just the heat and when it was time to leave for
the night collection of bats I was ready. This time going out it was one huge
group of Tyler, Ainur, Paul, myself, and staff member Rakhmad. Rakhmad is a
researcher here at the field site, and he knows a great deal about bats. All of
us were grouped together so we could check the traps at the same time, and not
divide ourselves up into separate trap checking groups.
I
was very excited to be working along side Tyler and Ainur all night, but when
we were about a mile into the woods I began to feel very, very ill. I decided
it would not be best to continue on so turned around and hurried back to the
bungalows. I donıt really know what is wrong with me, but I felt it was best to
take it easy before my mystery illness turned into something crazy.
Once
I was back at camp I rested, showered and hydrated myself as best I could.
Luckily I fell asleep very early, despite the fact my room was practically a
sauna! I wasnıt awake to do the processing of the bats but I did manage to get
my hands on the data they collected. So here are a few of the bats they brought
back last night.
Capture #----Wing
band#----Species----Sex----Age----Weight----Forearm msrmt.----Reproductive Status----Trap#
S504212 mbcrua5266
KEPA
F A
10.0g n/a
RPL
js0137
S504213 mbcru5851 KEIN M A
3.6g 28.6mm n/a
js0141
S504214 n/a KEPE F
J 3.5g 32.3mm NR
js0141
S504214 n/a
RHTR
M
A 12.0g
50.5mm n/a
js0145
Key to chart:
KEPA = Kerivoula papillosa
KEIN = Kerivoula intermedia
KEPE = Kerivoula pellucida
RHTR = Rhinolophus trifoliatus
F = female
M = male
A = adult
J = juvenile
RPL = recently post-lactating
NR = non-reproductive
n/a = not available or not applicable (males donıt have a
current reproductive status like female bats)
Thanks Everyone!
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April 25 2005
Today
was our day off! It was great to sleep in for a little while! Everyone started moving
around at 9:30 because the van was leaving at 10:00. The van had been arranged
to take us all to an elephant sanctuary and also a wildlife park called
Deerland. We were all going to be gone for the entire day which meant we needed
to pack lots of water and any goodies we had.
We
first arrived at Deerland, which was about an hour away from the field station.
Deerland was quite tiny, but it had a lot of very exotic animals that were once
wild. The first animal we encountered was a Sun Bear. The Sun Bear was
absolutely adorable (even though it could munch me straight away). I didnıt
think we were going to be able to touch it, but we were invited inside its
gated-off area and told we were allowed to take photographs. I took a few
photographs, and then the guide invited me to get right beside the bear. I did
this with equal parts hesitation and excitement. So, I kneeled down next to the
bear and stuck out my hand to pet it. It was very gentle and didnıt seem as if
it wanted to harm me at all. The guide must have sensed this because he then
proceeded to pour condensed milk all over my hand and the bear licked every
drop off! I figured their tongues would be rough like a catıs but it was
smoother, like a dogıs. I can honestly admit, that letting the bear eat from my
hand was one of the coolest things I have ever done.
After
we left the bear, we moved onto the Ostrich area of the park. Ostriches are
kind of scary, because they are HUGE birds with ENORMOUS beaks. The guide
offered everyone food to feed the ostriches, I declined, and I think feeding a
bear was the bravest I wanted to go. After about 5 minutes of watching Arsen
and Tyler feed the Ostriches, I was connedı into doing it. I was very scared,
but I reached out my arm and the ostriches jabbed their heads forward and
gobbled up the leaves. It was pretty painless, but I was still glad it was
over!
At
Deerland we ended up feeding other animals like deer, and monkeys, but the most
exciting part of the day came when we got back into the van and headed off to
the elephant sanctuary. The elephant sanctuary was only about 20 minutes from
Deerland so the ride wasnıt too bad. Once we arrived at the sanctuary, we
quickly grabbed a bite to eat and signed ourselves up for the elephant feeding,
and bathing. After we signed ourselves up, we wandered over to the holding area
where the workers were preparing to feed the elephants. I was surprised that
there were tons of people at the sanctuary waiting for the feeding. So, once
all of the food was dispersed I fed a few elephants and backed away until the
elephant bathing time.
Before
the elephants were given baths, everyone was given a quick opportunity to ride
an elephant around for a few minutes. It is a little scary being on an elephant
because they are so high off the ground and you can feel their muscles flexing
underneath you as they walk. I knew I had nothing to be scared of though,
because it seemed as if they were pretty tame so I just relaxed an enjoyed the
ride. The ride was so nice that I snuck back in line to get a second ride, this
time I rode an elephant with one of the volunteers, Lance. Lance is a Global
Studies teacher from Hawaii, and it was his first time riding an elephant. I
think the same hesitation I felt about being so high off the ground was felt by
him as well. But like I said, the elephants were very tame and extremely calm
so it was a very pleasant experience for the both of us, or shall I say, three
of us. J
Once
the brief riding was over, we went down to the river. I was able to ride an elephant
into the river. When the elephant got to a deeper section of the river, it
dropped to its side, flinging Tyler and myself from its back. It didnıt hurt at
all, and it was so much fun! After we dropped into the water, we figured we
would swim around because we were already wet and it was terribly hot out. Directly after the washing of the
elephants (which was right after it flung us into the river) we gathered inside
the main sanctuary building and watched a film. The film was about the reason
why the elephants are in the sanctuary. Apparently, they are all there because
they are used to herd wild elephants from unsafe areas. Itıs a little bit
shady, because I was told that the elephants havenıt been used to relocate wild
elephants for many, many yearsı. In the car ride back from the sanctuary
David, Jim, Arsen, Tyler, Lance, Ainur, Hannah, and myself talked about what
the real purpose for the sanctuary might be, and we all came to an agreement
that we didnıt know enough details to start making slanderous comments. J
But even though the purpose for the sanctuary is a little foggy we all had a
nice time and were glad we had a chance to experience the elephants first hand.
The
day off was very exciting and it was nice to be able to interact with so many different
types of wildlife. Feeding the Sun Bear was great, and riding the elephant was
also a very unique experience. This was probably the busiest day off we have
had since weıve started our trip and for that, I shall never forget all of the
wonderful things weıve done.
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April 26 2005
Daily Log: 4.27.2005
Today
the morning bats went.well. The grid line we were doing was X7. It was by far
the hardest and most challenging grid line I have done. It started out
relatively flat then escaladed into an almost vertical trail. Unfortunately, we
didnıt have very many bats even though we did all that hiking. I was told by
Rakhmad that when the traps are on a hill such as the one we were on, the bats
generally fly higher than when they are on flatter ground. As a result of them
flying higher, they miss the traps and very few if any, ever get caught.
After
we processed the 3 bats we obtained out of the 10 traps, we created film stars
out of them and showed the film crew the bats weıve caught. They filmed for a
few minutes and then we all moved on back to camp. At camp, we had lunch, which
was absolutely spicy! My mouth was on fire and I think it was a result of potatoes
covered in hot pepper flakes.
Lunch
came and went and then I spent time with Arsen and Tyler going over Tylerıs
video for the project. I must say it is looking very good and it portrays the
project very well. My favorite part of the video is the footage of the bats at
night (but I wonıt say anymore, because the video is a surprise!). After the
three of us reviewed the footage and made some minor adjustments, we showed it
to David and Lance. They both thought it was wonderful and they couldnıt believe
how good Tyler was at producing.
Later
in the evening, I prepared for the TeachLive call. It was the first TeachLive
of the project, which always makes me nervous. I am sometimes nervous during
the calls because I am never sure what sort of questions the students will ask.
So before each call I always try to go through the briefing and ask the
Principal Investigator questions, just to be sure all the information is fresh
in my mind. Around 9:15, Tigga, Tyler, Arsen, Ainur and myself congregated in
the park to make the call. We met in the park because itıs the only placed
where the connection on the satellite phone is the best.
Promptly
at 10:00 PM we called, and unfortunately we had some technical difficulties
straight away. For some reason, we kept cutting out and then eventually we lost
the connection. Once we called the second time, though, everything went
BEAUTIFULLY. I must say, the questions asked were so well thought out and I
could tell that everyone was really interested in what we were doing and
excited to talk about the project. About half way through the phone call, my
brain stopped working! When the question was asked about how the bats were
caught I could not think of the name of the traps. The name of the traps is
Harp Trapsı because thatıs exactly what they look like, but I could not think
of the name and the only thing I could think of that was similar was to say the
traps were like prison bars. I have never felt so dumb while answering a
TeachLive question. I must apologize for my terrible analogy; I was just very
nervous and excited!
In
the end the call went so well, and I must admit it was one of the better, if
not best, TeachLive calls we have done. It was great to talk to you all, it
seems like years ago since we met in Boston, but at the same time, it seems
like it was just yesterday. Itıs funny the way time works. We will talk to you
all again very shortly (about 2 hours!)
Talk to you then!
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April 27, 2005
Daily Log 4.28.2005
Today
was our last full day out in the field. The teams were switched up a little bit
because we were doing habitat surveys. It was really nice to be doing the
surveys because Tigga, for the first time ever, sent us out on our own without
a staff member. The group I was with was Jim and Lanceıs group, Intermedia. So
it was Jim, Lance, Tyler, Ainur, and myself. The plot we were doing was deep
into the grid, and it took us quite along time to walk out to the starting
point.
The
plot itself takes a lot of time to set up and measure but once the boundary
ropes are set up, itıs time to start measuring the trees. This plot was very
thick at the end which is probably a result of being so far into the forest.
Jim and I decided to team up as a group and he used the parang to mark the
trees and I measured their size. All of us ended up breezing through the plot
and it was nice to have different partners than usual (although I think my
original partner, Paul, is the best!). Lance and Tyler worked together really
well and Ainur had the stressful job of writing down all the tree sizes. At
some parts of the plot, the trees were so close that every few seconds we would
call out numbers to her. I think I would get confused very quickly, but Ainur
seemed to be a pro. Tigga told us each plot has on average 500 trees so if you
think about having to write down 500 numbers, you would probably be slightly
stressed!
After
the plot was over, we marched back to camp. Just as we were leaving the forest,
I caught the film crew in the middle of a scene with Arsen. They asked me and
Tyler to stay to film some footage of us walking along the trail. At one point,
we had to run along the trail and I thought I was going to fall flat on my
face, but luckily I didnıt.
Once
the filming was over, we all grabbed a bite to eat for lunch. We had the rest
of the day off because of the TeachLive call, so we showered, slept, and I did
some laundry. It is funny doing laundry in the middle of nowhere. I was hand
washing all of my clothes and I never realized how much you had to rewash
things before they began to appear clean. J Maybe my clothes were
just filthy and thatıs why it took forever to wash them. J
Later
that night Tyler, Arsen, Tigga, Ainur, Hannah, and myself went over a slide
show presentation that would be shown at following morning at the school we
were going to. I was a little nervous about going to the school because I
didnıt know how the kids would react to us being there. The overview of the
slide show took about an hour and after a while I began to feel more and more
confident about what we were going to say. The slide show was about 70 slides,
and we figured we would each do about 13-15 slides. Tigga was planning on
sitting back and letting us do the presentation, and just assist us on
information if we needed it.
Reviewing
the slide show took us right up to the time we had to do the call. We have been
gathering at the play ground to do the calls about 45 minutes before we dial.
We gather so early because we have to put on microphones, and the film crew has
to set up lights. You might be asking yourself, Well how does the film crew
set up lights in a park?² and the answer to that question is, they run power
cables into the cars battery to produce the energy. Itıs amazing how things are
worked out in the absence of electricity!
The
call went so well, once again. The questions you all asked were so amazing! I
think everyone had such a wonderful time talking with you guys. This was
definitely a very special TeachLive that we have done together. I canıt wait to
see which questions you all have asked make it to the film. Each one of you is
already making a difference in the world, and I know that you will be very
successful in anything you put your mind to. Keep up the good work.
Peace,
Jamie
Pictures from the field on April 28, 2005