Coastal Guyana Spring 2008

This Spring, myself and four other Valencia Community College students had the opportunity to travel to coastal Guyana collecting sea turtle data with Dr. Peter Pritchard. Since the mid-1960s, Dr. Pritchard has been traveling to Guyana encouraging sea turtle conservation. To make a long story short, he essentially turned a turtle hunting society into what is now a turtle conserving society. Our 10 day trip took us to the capital city of Georgetown, various Amerindian villiages, Shell Beach, and Kaieteur Falls. Here are some pictures taken by various members of our group, with some brief narration.

First, I'll introduce the group. Professor Myers, AJ, Ryan, Zach, Yuly, and myself.
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Dr. Pritchard and Audley James first met on this beach in 1988. Audley is an Arawak indian who used to hunt sea turtles, and now plays a big role in their conservation.
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On the way to the beach, we spotted this 3-toed sloth hanging out along side a river.
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This Ameiva ameiva was found under a guest house we stayed in on the way to the beach.
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The beach camp...
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At night we would walk the beach looking for sea turtles. It was early in the nesting season, so only a few were observed during our short stay.

We found this green turtle (Chelonia mydas) just in time to see her drop her last few eggs.
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I tagged the turtle under Dr. Pritchard's instruction.
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Yuly and I measured the turtle (47" carapace length). Pritchard estimated this green to weigh about 450 pounds.
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Another group found this leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea).
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The sea turtles obviously nest at night, so we had to find other ways to keep ourselves busy during the day. We set out on a walk in the swamp behind the beach with hopes of seeing a green anaconda or labaria (Bothrops atrox). We found neither, but this parrot snake (Leptophis ahaetulla) was observed and temporarily captured.
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We also found this green iguana.
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This rainbow lizard (Cnemidophorus lemniscatus) was found on the beach.
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Bufo marinus was a common sight throughout the trip.
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Squirrel monkeys frequented the treetops behind the beach camp.
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After a few days on the beach, we headed to the interior to visit Kaieteur Falls, the world's largest single-drop waterfall at 741 feet.

Kaieteur is known for its giant tank bromeliads, among other things. Here is a picture for scale to show just how giant these bromeliads are. Pritchard is over 6 feet tall.
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The golden poison dart frog (Colostethus beebei) is also endemic to the area. They are found only inside the tank bromeliads which are found only at Kaieteur Falls.
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This male :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola) was also observed.
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An unidentified snake skeleton was the only sign of snake we saw.
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And the icing on the cake, Kaieteur Falls...
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wow!! wonderful pics man!!!:gj: i wonder if i can get one of those leather back turtles as a pet. lol..

Hi,

Beautifull pictures. :)

For some reason I find these guys totally adorable;

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And major kudos for the conservation work. :bow:


dr del

Awesome photos and sounds like you had a great trip!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by munding

wow!! wonderful pics man!!!:gj: i wonder if i can get one of those leather back turtles as a pet. lol..

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You used to be able to - - When I was a kid, I can remember seeing baby loggerhead sea turtles in the tanks of the local tropical fish store.

What were they thinking?

~Bruce

Wow, that looks like it was an amazing trip!!! Your pics are awesome, I especially like the ones with the waterfall.... AMAZING!! And those turtles are too cute!! Thanks for sharing!!

Wow....just....wow! What an amazing experience! And fabulous pictures!! Thank you SO much for sharing them with us! Makes me all envious...but in a good way! :P :D

Truly beautiful pictures. Looks like a fascinating trip. Just don't drink the koolaid.

That looks absolutely beautiful! I had no idea leatherbacks were so huge! LOL... looks like you guys had a great time. :)

:bow: For the OUTSTANDING pics...:bow: To Dr. Pritchard...:bow: To you guys for your work...

Wow! Fabulous pics! I can't even pick out just one or two things to comment on cuz I want to comment on them all! So I'll just say, looks like it was an amazing trip and I'm completely and utterly jealous!

What an awesome trip! It must have been amazing to work with those large ladies on the beach...=)

But oh it would kill me to go to Guyana and not see a boa...;)

Awsome pictures, and some great finds. Thanks for sharing your experience, as we don't often get to see field herping outside of the natural range of the majority of our members. That Rainbow Lizard is by far my favorite.

Looks like a sweet trip :gj:.Thanks for sharing

dsirkle- I drank the koolaid! (if anyone doesn't know the story of Jonestown, Guyana, look into it.)

littleindiangirl- leatherbacks are arguably the world's largest living reptile! large adults can reach 2000 pounds.

cassandra- i had hopes of seeing boas, but no such luck. regardless, it's hard to complain on a trip like this.

thanks for the kind words everyone. glad y'all are enjoying the pics.