Last Tuesday, 7th August we finally managed to negotiate a solution so that we could go back to Round Island. We, that was Zayd, Christine, her assistant Zayrabee and I. Round Island was on the brink of being unmanned for a certain time until the issue with the helicopters was solved. But thanks to several executives decisions and goodwill we were allowed to get back to the island by helicopter. However, it was at our own risk, because we didn't know when exactly we were going to return to the mainland. The only thing we knew was that it was going to be by Coast Guard boat, and only in case of weather or rather sea conditions permitting a changeover. We were all so happy and excited to be back on Round, as what Zayd called the rescue team. But it was a long way to that point. We were back to take care of our animals and plants, I for the geckos, Zayd for the plants in the nursery and Christine for her tortoises. Wednesday was then a happy start into the work that was waiting to be done. I was glad to see that two of the four geckos that I left tagged when we left in July still had their backpacks on. So I continued locating them to get more location records. Apart from that I needed to organise all my other work in a way that we would be able to leave at the earliest possible date, Thursday 16th Aug. Besides locating animals and monitoring the others, that had been tagged before, I was mainly working tree maps of all the animals home ranges to see how their home ranges are structured, getting photos of these areas to make it more visual, and collecting data for a university course that I was not able to attend in Switzerland in June. The days were full again, but compared to the four weeks I stayed before I still felt much more at ease because most of the location data were collected. My last Sunday was exactly the right day to explore the island again and take a few photos of the unique animals there. You can see some of the photos in the picture folder. It was one of the most beautiful days I had seen on Round, sunshine from early to late and very calm. The days before were very different because of an anti-cyclone in the area. Sudden weather changes and strong, almost stormy winds were typical then. So, Sunday was just awesome. And the great thing was that the following days were pretty much the same. Life passed quite normal then, hard work in the sizzling sun during the day, cooking together in the evening, falling to bed and asleep as if hit with a bat on the head, and getting up early at 6.30 to start the new day. I enjoyed the last days particularly. Knowing that I was leaving soon gave me a lot of power again. It's not that I didn't enjoy myself, I lived life as intense as I haven't for a while at home, I soaked in all of it, the positive, unique and the challenging bits. I could feel the spirit of the place, and had tried to contribute as much as I was physically and mentally able. But I also felt that it was time to move on. There was one person I didn't get along with, and the bad atmosphere kept looming in the few square metres of the field station. Round Island gave me a lot, unique moments of feeling happy and just wanting to embrace the whole world, challenges that asked me to try hard to keep my head above water, and then human sympathy and antipathy, which can be so hard deal with on a tiny island.
The last day on Round, Wednesday, was one of particular beauty. I was getting ahead well collecting the last data for the habitat maps. About to finish, I heard this weird sound of something big breathing out. I turned around and couldn't believe I saw the fountain of whale drifting away in the wind. Two whales were swimming north and kept coming to the water surface. One of them even jumped. Seeing that a few words I had read in a book recently about why we protect nature.
“There is one last reason for caring, and I believe that no other is necessary. It is certainly the reason why so many people have devoted their lives to protecting the likes of rhinos, parakeets, kakapos, and dolphins. And it is simply this: the world would be a poorer, darker, lonelier place without them.” Mark Cawardine
Seeing these giants of the oceans passing by was awe-inspiring. And it turned out to be an amazing late afternoon with 5 more whales I spotted. One of them I will never forget. This one turned sideways, lifted its fin and splashed it on the water in what looked like waving goodbye to me. This was only topped by seeing "the last of the Mohikans" later one last time. This Guenther's gecko I named after that movie because it had been my last tagged animal. He looked down on me from his perch site on the tree trunk, and I enjoyed watching him before leaving the palm savannah that night.
The next morning we were busy to carry all our stuff down to landing rock, where the Coast Guard boat would arrive. The heaviest load was up to Christine and Zayd, a giant tortoise that needed to come off the island to get medical care. They did great work carrying it down the steep gully. Despite the calm sea handing over all the supplies from the boat ashore and our stuff onto the boat was a challenge. Thanks to everyone's effort we managed it fine and were ready to head off towards the mainland.
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