Kiwanis July 9 Program: Joan Thuebel spoke about her Earthwatch Polar Bear experience in Churchill, Canada.

Kiwanian Joan Thuebel gave a very interesting and educational talk about her trip to Churchill, Canada to study Polar Bears as part of Earthwatch. She started with an overview of Polar Bears. Joan then described the activities she carried out as part of the Earthwatch project.

Because global warming is reducing ice formation, the bears are have a difficult time finding enough food. The bears mate in April and May, but the pregnancy does not start until after the bear eats enough food to produce the required amount of blubber. If the female bear has enough blubber in October, she we will be able to give birth to cubs.

The study observed play-fighting among male bears. Also studied was the effect of humans on the bears. The bears were photographed and their behavior was documented.
Joan showed excellent slides of Polar Bears and their habitat. The members of the audience enthusiastically applauded this entertaining and educational presentation.

July 24 Kiwanis Program: Earthwatch participant Joan Theubel spoke about researching a “Crusader Castle in Cyprus”.

Joan Theubel (left in photo), who spoke about an Earthwatch research project “Crusader Castle in Cyprus”, was introduced by Mary Anne Maloney.

First, Joan gave some background on the Earthwatch project. Saranda Kolones (meaning 40 columns) in Cyprus is an archeological site of historical significance.  The name was given by the people of Paphos (Pafos), Cyprus, on the Southwestern part of Cyprus, who talked about marble columns projecting out of a field. Historian and archeologist John Rosser wondered what they were talking about so he started research in the area. He found that in 1191 AD Richard the Lionheart conquered a castle in Cyprus. Rosser wondered if remains of a castle on the site were from the one Richard conquered. The objective of the Earthwatch project was to determine if the marble columns have anything to do with the castle.

As archeologists dug down in the fields they reached the original level of Bronze Age settlements. On top of that are Greek Hellenistic ruins. On top of that are Roman remains. On top of that is the Byzantine layer. Finally, on the surface are the castle fortifications under study. The question was, “were these fortifications built before 1191?” If true, this would suggest that it was the castle conquered by Richard the Lionheart.

We do know that there were some Arab raids in the area around 650 AD. If the site was the conquered castle, it had to be built between 650 and 1191. It is known the Richard the Lionheart was on his 3rd Crusade when the castle surrendered to him. It is known that the existing castle under study was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1122 AD.

The research is of interest to historians who study military techniques over the years. Castles could be European, where there is a wall surrounding a Keep building. Or else they could be Arab and built with concentric walls. The subject castle had concentric walls. It is possible that the castle was constructed by Crusaders following the Arab style because it might have been easier to defend.  It also had a “Sally Port” (like sally forth). This is a doorway and tunnel leading out of the castle.

Joan showed many very beautiful slides of Paphos, Cyprus.  The Earthwatch workers resided in a nice modern condo style apartment. The site is a great place to go for vacation, with many lovely flowers. Her photos showed how later generations reused construction materials from old ruins to build new structures.

Joan dug outside and between the castle walls to see if there was any sign of construction between 650 and 1191. Workers found, washed, identified and stored objects which they uncovered using a trowel, dental tool and brush. Professional workers used laptop computers to research items as they were uncovered. The remaining walls are in pretty good shape. For example, they found charcoal left by ancient residents cooking a meal. They also found remains of human bodies. Joan showed many excellent slides illustrating details of the castle, including arches, millstones, walls and plumbing. She showed examples of reusing the Hellenistic marble columns in construction of the castle. 

Earthwatch workers found no evidence of construction between 650 and 1191. Clearly, this castle was not there when Richard the Lionheart arrived. The Crusaders built it in an Arab style using some of the found marble columns. At the end of the talk, the audience applauded this very interesting and entertaining talk. To learn more, click here to check out this Cyprus Castle web site. Also click here to view John Rosser document website regarding the project.

December 6 Program: Joan Thuebel presented "Dancing Birds of Costa Rica"

Joan Thuebel gave a slide show presentation on “Dancing Birds of Costa Rica” at the December 6 Kiwanis luncheon meeting. She participated in an Earthwatch scientific expedition to the western coast of Costa Rica, where she and others in her group documented the dances of Long tailed Manakin birds. The bird is unusual for its coloring, which changes as it matures over the years. David Lloyd (on right in photo) introduced the speaker.

The mating of these birds is called a “lek”. Multiple male birds do a coordinated group dance to entice females. Joan gave entertaining renditions of the dances, to the delight of everyone in the audience.

You can view a video of the Manakins dancing on YouTube. Click here to learn more about Earthwatch. At the end, the audience applauded enthusiastically and thanked Joan for the very interesting presentation.

Joan Thuebel Presents: Polar Bear studies with Earthwatch near Hudson Bay

Joan Thuebel presented an illustrated talk on her Earthwatch scientific research of Polar Bears at the Research Station near Churchill on Hudson Bay. The March 15 program was very interesting and well-attended. In above photo, Mary Anne thanks Kiwanis member Joan for giving the talk. Joan has been on 27 Earthwatch adventures.

She started with some facts: Male Polar Bears (1500 pounds) live 18 years; females (500 pounds) live 25 years. They range over an area the size of the British Isles so they are not “territorial”. They live on ice flows, eat seal blubber, and they carry about 6 inches of blubber. In April the ice melts and they come ashore, where there are no seals. From then until late October when the ice begins to freeze, the bears have nothing to eat.

Bears mate while on land. However, the babies do not develop until the bears return to living on the ice. Earthwatch tundra buggies travel on unpaved trails to serve the “DEW-Line”.  Joan’s Earthwatch was in October.  One task was to observe play-fighting between males. Earthwatch was trying to determine why the males do this. Females are friendly to each other but they avoid male bears. Another task was to determine the reaction by bears to helicopters, which flew over from time-to-time.

It is not safe to be outside of the buggies when bears are close. They are extremely aggressive. They are curious about people and come right up to the buggies (see above photo). People go out on the buggies from 8:00 am until about 3:00 pm. They observe them, photograph them, use range-finders to estimate their size and log the location with using GPS. Bears are identified and tracked via scars on their faces. Bears are lethargic when temperature is warm (over 35 deg. F). They roll around in snow when they find it.

Between about October 15 and November 15, you can go to website www.polarbearcam.com and watch the bears. Photos are taken every 30 seconds. They also saw wolves, Snowy Owls and Artic Foxes. Also, they saw the Northern Lights. See photo of Artic Fox.

Residents of Churchill manage the local Polar Bears when they come into town. There is a bear jail where some are put. From the library in the Research Station, they could see bears through a window at night. She went to Churchill via airplane.

Joan Thuebel spoke on her "Amazon River Trip" with Earthwatch

Joan Thuebel, who has attended twenty-seven Earthwatch missions since 1980 reported on her recent trip to the Amazon River. She was introduced by Nancy Holt (on the left in the photo). Earthwatch volunteers work with scientists to solve environmental problems.

She has been to the Amazon 3 times, the most recent visit in August-September this year. A previous visit was 12 years ago. She flies from Lima into Iquitos, Peru. She was surprised to find that the Amazon River depth is the lowest level in recorded history. The boat her goup lived on, built in 1906, has a draft of only 8 feet. They had to travel 2 hours upriver to board the boat. After boarding, they were unable to travel all the way to the Samiria Park Preserve where they hoped to do most of their work.

Things were quite different from past trips but they still had much work to do. They counted (by estimation) wading birds, macaws, and fish .They went into the rainforest, which was quite strenuous, and counted monkeys and other mammals. Trees had a lot of thorns and there was lots of mud, no rocks. The group caught fish in a net, identified them, counted them and weighed them. They counted the number of river dolphins seen jumping out of the water.

There was an 8:30 pm night boat ride to count Caiman, small crocodiles. She was able to see stars clearly because there were no lights along the river. After traveling in a small outboard boat for a long time without lights, the leader turned on a search light so they could see the Caiman.

Joan showed slides of the river, forest, animals and cities. Iquitos was a rubber baron’s city. The town has been spruced up since she saw it 12 years ago. The group had a chance to tour the local market, which is quite large. On the boat, the researchers stayed in nice refurbished double rooms with private bathrooms. Rooms were air conditioned. Washed clothing hung out in open air would not dry in the high humidity.

She showed photos of macaws and insects taken during her earlier trip to the Amazon. Also, there was a photo of a red arrow poison frog. The natives do hunt and they are learning about sustainability, to not overhunt wild game. Natives along the river in the area migrate with their houses when required.

Click on this link to visit the Earthwatch website and learn more.