News and Updates in Archaeology, Geology, Marine Biology, Biodiversity and even Ornithology!

I have a lot to cover since my last post just before I left for Andros Island, Bahamas.

The good news is, I'm not dead and I mean that in the most serious way, as one day after I departed on a Lynx Air twin engine 19 seat plane from Ft. Lauderdale to Andros Island, a twin engine Chalk's Ocean Airways seaplane crashed off the coast of Miami just after it had taken off for Bimini Island, Bahamas. 20 people died because the wing was cracked. Our plane didn't look much safer:

We didn't even hear about the crash until we were leaving Andros and our plane had to go through inspection and brand new security measures, thus delaying everyone's connecting flight back to Columbus.

The connecting flight for me didn't matter--I managed to jump at the chance to stay on Sanibel Island, Florida for nearly an extra week after returning to Ft. Lauderdale on December 26th-- the reason I have been silent on my blog page. I am just now starting to get back off of "island time" and getting myself reacquainted with news and technology (I have been absolutely resisting both in order to hang on to the wonderful feeling of being stress-free in the Bahamas).

Alright, let's dig into the good stuff.

Forfar Field Station was an amazing place where I met many amazing people who I developed wonderful connections with. It certainly was the best Christmas ever--I will no longer be spending the holidays here in the States if I can help it. Instead of giving and receiving meaningless gifts forced upon us by the media and fighting traffic to the mall, I spent my holidays taking in Nature and documenting fish, corals, sea creatures, birds, geology and flora. Not to mention I spent time traveling into the small villages to spread a little Christmas cheer to children and serving and feeding the community of Bahamians on Christmas Day:

The town of Red Bays:

The Forfar Field Station lodge, Christmas Day, 2005.

Every day there was a trip from the field station to a snorkel or land site of biological/geological interest. From pristine beaches to deep, dark bat caves, I documented everything and will be writing a nice synthesis to add to my San Salvador report.

Pigeon Cay snorkel site:

Me in the Bat Cave entrance:

Marine Biology/Biodiversity

While snorkeling various blue holes and the 3rd largest barrier reef in the world, issues in biodiversity sprung to mind. Reefs are such a fragile ecosystem, delicately managed and maintained by various organisms. Reefs easily die with any disruptions in the food chain, global climate and sea level, pollution and sediment run-off from land. Efforts are underway in the Bahamas to create National Parks to protect the Reefs, but just as in America, the government gets in the way of preservation.

Biodiversity hot spots were determined by scientists as candidates for National Parks throughout the Bahamas. Instead of "following Dr.'s orders", the Bahamian government has failed to protect these areas, instead, focusing on more tourist-accessible areas. The concerns of course for the government are money and the economy--the here and now, and not the future of our planet.

But there is hope is preserving the biodiversity of the fragile reefs in the Bahamas, as seen in the article, "Marine reserves 'good' for reefs", which talks about the efforts being made to protect the integral reef-cleaning Parrotfish in the Exuma Cays. (Parrotfish are by far my favorite fish to see, follow, and watch feed on the bad algae encrusting on corals). Anyone who thinks I'm crazy for caring about Parrotfish should be immediately slapped and then sentenced to pay the measly sum to travel to the Bahamas to check them out in person (as we say in the Park Service, make them care ABOUT, so that they care FOR).

Ornithology
I never understood birding. You spend hours walking around, trying to call birds and when they fly by or hop from branch to branch, you try to get your incredibly expensive binoculars up to your eyes in time to see them, then you spend the rest of the time paging through books to identify them based on your often split second observation. How frustrating!

Well, I just described myself during my feeble first attempts at birding on Andros Island. It was while I was out just before the break of dawn surrounded by the powerful forces of Nature (aka absolutely NO highway noise pollution) with a small group of birders, that I gained an immense respect for ornithology.

So, with my new friend Jeremy, amateur birder, cyclist, backpacker, sea kayaker and snorkel buddy extraordinare, towing me along, we jumped in his car once we hit Ft. Lauderdale and made our way over to Sanibel Island for more R & R before heading back to Ohio.

Sanibel Sunset:

For those of you who haven't heard of Sanibel, it's a birder's dream come true at the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge and Bird Sanctuary (It's one of 540 National Wildlife Refuges in the United States). Not to mention that the island is not allowed to have any neon on it, something that would normally disrupt bird behavior.

It was at the refuge where I began developing my birding skills--there are just so many to observe that are standing still! I learned my ibises, egrets, gulls, grebes, herons, pelicans, terns, sandpipers, spoonbills and my favorite, the osprey. It was really no different then learning all the different tropical fish in the Bahamas.

Back in Ohio, I have begun birding at the park. I went out for a short walk and saw woodpeckers, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, and a golden-crowned kinglet. I'm now going to work on developing some birding tours of my own at the Park.

Archaeology
While I was away, I received several emails and blog posts concerning the Octagon Liberation Movement. All of your names have been noted and complied and I will be sending out updates on how the process for getting some answers about the lease is going. In the meantime, there is a bus tour of the Hopewell National Park sites and an upcoming lecture in Chillicothe by archaeoastronomer Dr. Robert Horn. For more information, go here.

Interesting article from BBC news today: "Iron Age 'bog bodies' unveiled". These date to about the same period as the Middle Woodland Moundbuilders. It's interesting that Ned Kelly thinks these bodies were killed ceremoniously as offerings to the fertility gods. I think he may be inferring too much about these prehistoric bog bodies.

Geology
Not only was there a small earthquake near Lake Erie recently (2.8 mag), but there was one near Athens as well (6.9 mag). Actually the epicenter was on the island of Kythira, where I know people who have done archaeological work there.

Sustainability
Finally, check out this amazing resource from BBC News. There is a 6 part series called "Planet Under Pressure" and it hits on a lot of the stuff I have been discussing recently as inspired by the Dr. McKee's Human Ecological Adaptations course and Dr. Lonnie Thompson's research. Professor Chris Rapley is one of those guys who is doing exactly what we all need to be doing: Getting educated about the sustainability of this planet.