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Helen island in the lagoon of Helen Reef is part of the Palau Republic |
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Walk on the beach with nature officers Jay, Paul and Peter |
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Many birds have a permanent or temporarily home on Helen island |
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Boobies come to mate and brood |
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Also in the trees a lot of birds make their nests |
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A colourful end of the day |
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Sitting and waiting near the nest the sand starts moving and the first turtles come crawling up |
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Three months ago their mother has dug a hole, laid her eggs and covered them with sand |
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The baby turtles leave the rests of their eggs behind and come crawling up one after the other |
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The nature officers have put a fence around the nest |
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to prevent the small turtles to be eaten straight away by the crabs |
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It seems there is no end to this 'birth' |
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By instinct the turtles know to which side the sea is |
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If we see no more movement in the sand Jay put the baby's in a bucket and is counting them (about 100) |
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The turtles follow their way to the sea and will continue swimming for the next 24 hours |
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In the open air kitchen I make a good soup |
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The boys have invited us voor a fish BBQ |
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From the eggs of the birds they also make a tastful omelette |
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By boat they patrol the lagoon for illegal fishermen from the Philippines or Indonesia |
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When leaving we receive a bucket with small turtles that have to be set out further away in the lagoon |
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They didn't swim away with their peers so they will get a second chance |
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At the west point of West Papua the Cri eco resort is situated |
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All staff is very friendly and helpful |
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The restaurant and sleeping units are build in traditional style |
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From the jetty we can take in diesel |
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A small crowd has come to see the modern and big sailing boat |
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Out of a 250 liter drum we siphon the fuel into our tank |
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Local carvery gives the resort extra atmosphere |
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The chef prepares every night a different Indonesian meal |
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In the kitchen there are always pans boiling and smelling deliciously |
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In the restaurant of the nearby luxurious Sorido resort |
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we attend a musical performance of the local staff |
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They accompany their songs with guitars, a bass and drums |
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Strange looking sweetlip (?) |
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Scuba diving around Cape Cri |
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Leopard thriggerfish |
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White tip shark |
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Harlequin sweetlips |
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Manta ray |
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Lots of rock islands in Kawoei bay |
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Traditional sailing canoe on 'Schildpad' island |
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On their way to the market on Aru island |
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