Bequia Turtle Sanctuary March 26

On the island of Bequia there is a private turtle sanctuary who's mission is to improve  the survival rate of the sea turtles.

This turtle is an albino and has been in the sanctuary all of it's life about 15 years.  The staff told us that this turtle would not have survived in the wild as it's natural camouflage is missing.

These little guys are just a few months old.  They were picked up on the beach after they hatched.

They are then kept in tanks for approximatly five years to help insure there survival.

Bequia Whaling Station March 23



Bequia has a limited whaling season and allows the harvest of two sperm whales per year using traditional methods.  That is a small sail boat and a hand thrown harpoon.  Once the whale is killed it is towed to this little island where it is butchered and the meat is shared with the local population.

No whales were harvested last year or this year.  We did see, from quite a distance, one of the small sail boats chase a whale but they were not successful.

It appears that most of the animal is used in one form or another.  We saw vendor's selling whale teeth that had been decorated with scrimshaw.

Here is a picture of a bar,  surprisingly named "The Whale Bone" go figure, with a whale's rib as a main feature of the bar.

Babs and Her kayak March 20

 When Kim and Joe were leaving to return to England Babs bought a kayak from them to explore the shallow beach areas around the different islands.