Today was our first day of not working with the sea turtles, it was bittersweet. As much as I wanted to continue to hang out on a beautiful beach and work on turtle conservation, I was ready for something different. Sophie, our program director took us on a 30 minute walk to a cabina just off the beach where Widecast has a homebase for mangrove conservation. I was happy to be in the shade, although the humidity and heat was no different. At the mangrove station Sophie explained that the mangroves are important for the shorelines during storms and provide a safe place for the turtles to rest. The area we were planting mangroves in appeared stripped as the tide went out. Sophie explained to us that the mangroves need to be in an area where they can soak up salt as well as fresh water in order to grow. Aside from getting stuck in the mud and really dirty, it was a great experience that made me realize how important mangroves are to our ecosystem especially here in Florida. On our way back from the mangrove trip, we had a great opportunity to capture Scarlet Macaws in their natural habitat. There were at least 10 in one tree, squawking up a storm. It was nice to see them free.