Island Ranger

This week I worked with the two Law Enforcement Rangers here at Christiansted NHS.

It was a very Buck Island oriented week and you know what that means. I got to practice and polish my boating skills, which have improved greatly with my continuous and constant training with Ranger Rivera. 

ProRanger with Ranger Laurencin at Buck Island.

My week started with me working as a back up officer for Ranger Gabriel Laurencin, the other Law Enforcement Ranger at Christiansted NHS. We patrolled Buck Island Reef National Monument, walked the West Beach and had non-law enforcement contacts with the visitors of the Park. On this day, I drove the vessel to and from Buck Island, and I also did the docking of the vessel with minimal inputs from Ranger Laurencin, which is a good thing because it shows I knew what I was doing. Also, we patrolled Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve. We checked the position of our site cameras and retrieved them to check for any trespassing in the area.

ProRanger at the Observation Platform

Later in the week I worked with Ranger Rivera and I experienced patrolling Buck Island Reef NM early hours. We were out in the ocean as early as 05:30 looking for fishermen or any park violators. We patrolled the island for a couple hours and I also got the chance to do more boat training like the “man-overboard” and “anchoring”. During one of our patrols of the island this week, we hiked the only trail on Buck Island to the observation platform.

 

My week ended with me aiding in the burial of a dead green turtle with Ranger Rivera. We went on a Buck Island patrol as usual, only to get a call while patrolling from our sister agency (USFWS) regarding a dead green turtle that was lying by the beach. We helped transport the turtle from the beachside to the deep ocean. The turtle had three cracked vertical lines on her shell, which the representative from USFWS said would likely be from a vessel’s propeller. It was good seeing how the National Park Service assists other agencies like the USFWS. It was sad that the turtle was dead, but it was good seeing and feeling a turtle up-close; she was EXTREMELY heavy to lift.

P.S. if you get stranded at Buck Island you could live off these berries that are local to the island, just be careful plucking them off the top of the cactus plant.