Post #3: More Pawikan on the run!

      Thanks for staying tuned to our posts, we are now in our 3rd post right here on The Eco Spot.

      Have you ever stopped and wondered about why marine turtles are so important? 
Well, marine turtles are important because they help balance our ecosystem. Without them, the symbiotic relationships in nature would be destroyed.  Aside from that, we have beautiful creatures to admire and perhaps, even play with. There is one problem, however: marine turtles are highly affected by global warming.

      But just what is global warming?
 According to our research, global warming refers to "an increase in the Earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in greenhouse gases resulting especially from pollution."




      Global warming affect the marine turtles since it causes an increase in temperature. Somehow, in high temperatures, more pawikan hatchlings are male. In low temperatures, there are more female pawikan hatchlings. If there are more of one pawikan gender than the other then it will affect the number of pawikan and pawikan offsprings in the future.

      Even as students, we can help in conserving the pawikan. We can start by praying for the pawikan and their safety.  Infroming others that eating pwaikan and keeping them as pets and away from their families is illegal. We should also avoid buying pawikan shells. Keeping the oceans clean from any trash is also helpful step to pawikan conservation. Lastly, we can help conserve pawikan by joining coastal clean-up activities.  As we had experienced during our field trip, this activity is lots of fun!

SAVE THE TURTLES!!!!


   
      Well, that ends our third post, we hope you continue to read and comment on our following posts. Until the next one!!

Post # 2: Pawikan on the Run!

Welcome to The Eco-Spot, and here is our second post which is composed of the places we went to and the activities we did in the Bataan Field trip!!! (Thanks so much, urbanguru  - From the deepest part of the blood-pumper, The Eco-Spot staff)

We had this fieldtrip since first of all, it would be educational; second, it would be an amazing experience for us to be in awe of God's beautiful creations. Also, this trip would be linked to the blog we had to create.
On this exciting day - January 30, 2014 -  we woke up early and went to TLT around 5:45 am to start our Bataan Field trip. We had a long, tiring, 3-hour bus trip all the way to Bataan. We were all sleepy and tired but also excited for what was to come! We talked and played, and sometimes even slept. We were given a trip chart with parts about place information and experiences we had to fill out about the entire trip. There were questions like, "Why do you want to join the field trip?", which Beauty answered " Because I want to learn as much as possible.". Another question was, "What are your expectations for this trip?" which the Browser answered, "To see cool stuff and the miracles of God!".

We then reached Bataan at 9:00 am and headed for the Pawikan Conservation Center, where people take care of the TURTLES! A few words to describe these turtles- CUUUUTE, COOOOL, AWESOME! Turtle Fact: They release 64,000+ turtle hatchlings in the nearby beach. There are 7 types of Pawikan: the Olive Ridley (;P), Loggerhead, Hawksbill, Green Turtle and the Leatherback. In addition, we were asked in the trip chart, "Why are marine turtles important?". To this, OliveRidleyQueen answered, "They balance the ecosystem by eating some predators."  After this we went to the nearby beach to release the hatchlings! (We were honestly expecting that we would release the hatchlings from the eggs themselves. Instead, we were given the hatchlings in a basket. It saved us a lot of trouble.)

More about one of the Pawikan species:
 The Olive Ridley

Common Name: Olive Ridley turtle
Scientific Name: lepidochelys olivacea

                                                                   

                       Taxonomic Classification

       Kingdom: Animalia            Order: Testudines
       Phylum: Chordata              Family: Chelodiinae
       Class: Reptilia                    Genus: Lepidochelys
       Species: olivacea


      Photos by Master Sensei

Characteristics

The Olive Ridley is quite interesting since after the Kemp's ridley, the Olive Ridley turtles weigh between 75-100 pounds (34-35 kg) and 2-2 and 1/2 feet in length.They are named for their pale green carapace, or shell and are the most abundant of sea turtle species. Our PCC lecturer also mentioned it is the smallest turtle species. We specifically found interest in this species of turtle since it was the on that we let go of on the beach.

                                                          Photo by OliveRidleyQueen

Photo by OliveRidleyQueen

Ecological Relationship

The Olive Ridley turtle is an omnivore, eating a variety of prey including crabs, shrimp, lobster, urchins, jellies, algae and fish. Their preffered prey is the red crab and eats some predators such as different kinds of jellyfish. Once again, we were able to release a marine turtle hatchling: the Olive Ridley turtle or lepidochelys olivacea.
After this we went back to the bus and proceeded to another beach to have lunch. We then played Game 1 of ThermoSciDama, which is a board game relative to Checkers and Damath, where the objective is to get  the least number of points, lest you lose (ironic, right?!). So, after we headed for our next destination... which is to come SOON.


















                                         Photo by Master Sensei

Post #1: About Us

Welcome to our eco-friendly blog "The Eco Spot". In this site, nature lovers and fellow young scientists can journey with us and relive our experience during the January 2014, Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) and Pawikan Conservation Center. Travel with us as we set free pawikan hatchlings, learn about the lives of pawikan and explore the amazing and wonderful Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. We hope that at the end of each post, you will learn something new and appreciate nature even more. Stay tuned and watch out for our next posts and join us in The Eco Spot as we venture through the wonders of science and nature.

Who are we?

Beauty - Writer:
Loves to write poems and stories. She has a best friend and really loves reading different types of books. "I believe that all living things have feelings and must be given a chance to live."



Browser - Editor:
Hello. Itsa me: the Browser!!! I'm a 6th Grader and I play a lot of video games. I love Math and Science. "I found the Princess!"

Master Sensei - Photographer:
I am 13 years old. I am slender, tall, and have been wearing glasses since first grade. I like playing basketball, ping-pong as well as listening to music and watching TV. I read books that fascinate me like Calvin and Hobbes. "Gotta love the food."


OliveRidleyQueen - Blog Developer:
I am tall and lanky, love Science, am a comic geek, and into sci-fi movies. Some say I am obssesive compulsive (OC) because I have the urge to organize the world around me. So what if I like to have my own knocking pattern or if I (am forced to) correct people's grammar?  Passionate for computations and formulas but my social skills aren't exactly the greatest. But... "My brain is better than EVERYBODY'S!".  BAZINGA!