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No rest this 11th of November


Dairies 2010 [chronological order]

Turtle in full laying Plan of the northern sector Bako in full action Thomas at the theodolite

The night was shaken again: strong wind of more than 35 knots (that is «68 km / hour " said the weather reports) and rain.

If these storms have disturbed the sleep of a few, they did not bother the turtles that came to lie on the beach. In the morning, Jean-Michel, who made his daily rounds, accompanied by Jean-François, had counted 28! Olivier rose before dawn, even managed to shoot one of them at the time of spawning.

The sky of this November 11th, threatening in the morning, finally opens and the working day begins gently.

In the "north" square, before taking the elements which are on-surface, a drawing is realized and the position of every object is raised by means of the theodolite. A test sector of 1 m ² is chosen in the center, and the sediment taken by successive layers is sieved. The one who corresponds to the period of occupation of our castaways measures about fifteen centimeters in thickness.

We find, as in the excavated areas during the previous missions, the remains of consumed food: birds, turtles and rare fishes. We also located framing nails from burnt wood and small objects that were lost or abandoned.

Although today is a public holiday, it does not stop the team in its work.

For the occasion, Zineb, by popular request, has prepared a couscous for lunch. She made it with what she had and, if some ingredients are missing, the result is appreciated by all.

The work takes its course and the examination of the breach in the floor of the weather building proves disappointing. As we feared, the builders dug the ground to the "beach-rock" in order to lay the floor. If there are a few centimeters of sediment corresponding to the archaeological layer, there is little hope of finding what we are looking for, namely the graves. Late afternoon, we begin a new sector that reaches the excavated area in 2006.

Around the station, a long curved bill curlew walks slowly, until someone gives him a hermit crab. This migratory bird found here a good means of subsistence and does not seem eager to fly again.