We started our day by waking up at 7am for a breakfast consisting of sugary cereals and warm boxed milk. Delicious. A little after everyone was done eating and cleaning up we ventured off on our first hike up to Belevedere lookout point. Before we left for the hike Dr. Londraville pointed out a hole on a mountain on Moorea which has some really interesting mythology involving a half-god throwing a spear at somebody attempting to steal the mountain. According to Dr. N’s device we were 800 ft. about sea level at the highest point of our trail. At this height we had a fair view of the bay on which CRIOBE is located called Oponuhu, the bay where Berkley is located called Cook’s and the mountain in between. Though we were 800ft high the mountains behind us were still approximately 1000ft taller then us. Half way down our trail we took a detour from our intended path to see a small waterfall. The main purpose of the trip, aside from the amazing view, was to observe and attempt to catch skinks, which are vital to one of the research projects we are carrying out. We experienced many good times chasing tiny lizards with a tiny string. This portion of the trip was not without our usual hijinx. There are two dogs that reside at the station. One is relatively clean and is named Moorea. The other dog is ratty-looking and smells bad. We named her Poop Dog. Well, on our way up the mountain, we noticed that the two dogs were chasing our truck, and they were keeping up with us quite well. Eventually, however, they became tired and they slowed down. We continued up the mountain and started our skink hunt. Some time later, lo and behold, Poop Dog is on the trail catching lizards as well! Eventually, Moorea joined us as well. Upon returning from the mountain, we ate a DELICIOUS lunch consisting of some raw fish salad and fruit cocktail. However, the fruits were local and tasted amazing. After lunch, we traveled back to the White House area to attempt to observe and catch the Rock Skippers, which are the vital specimens of the fish project. We had a blast chasing these tiny creatures across the water. They have the ability to survive outside of water. When startled, they will jump into the water, skip off the surface, and they will find refuge on a nearby rock. The rest of the night, aside from dinner, consisted of the groups committing to either a fish or lizard project and then continuing by hammering out some details. This was the part of the trip where we start to get some real hardcore research experience, the teachers left the kids alone for about an hour for them to look at what we already knew and form questions and hypotheses. The group members working on the lizard project are Doni, Sarah, and Heather. The group members working on the fish project are Sean, Laura, Shawna, and Brittany. We each have solid ideas that we will refine even more in the next day or two. We are all having a blast here on the island. We are joking constantly (while getting work done :-D) and we thoroughly enjoy every day's activities. Tomorrow looks to be a great day, but you will have to wait until then to find out what we will be doing.
