Friday Night Surprise

Well, it turns out that Lindsey and I weren't satisfied just being featured in newspapers - yesterday we took our stardom up a notch when we were interviewed/filmed for a TV show in Manila! :)

Tristan and I spent the day touring and grocery shopping in Davao, while Lindsey had a nice day of rest. We returned to the cave around 5 - just in time for the TV crew to show up and tell us we were going to be interviewed...what a surprise that was for us.

It turned out to be a fantastic experience, everyone on the crew was really nice and seemed genuinely interested in the bats.

Here are some pictures that Tristan took during all the craziness.

Mystery Starfish

Guest Author: Tristan

Hey everybody! Hello from Samal Island in the Philippines!

I weathered my 30 hour journey around the world and survived with minimal jet-lag - a miracle considering I only got 7 hours of sleep over 3 days! I have been enjoying the company of our very own researchers Lindsey and Ambre as they guide me through the culture shock that is Davao. I have settled in and yesterday we explored the water nearly 1000 feet from the shoreline and discovered something new: another starfish!

We have yet to identify the species, but it looks really cool regardless.

Enjoy the photos:

Almost Famous

Lindsey and I recently attended two press conferences and now we've made it into the newspapers! When Norma visited the cave a few days ago she brought this little gem with her - enjoy!

Fact of the Day No. 8

Bats are a highly diverse group of animals: the world's smallest bat, the bumblebee bat, weighs less than a penny, while the world's largest bats, flying foxes, have a six-foot wingspan.

Image obtained from acidcow.com.

Fact of the Day No. 7

The Philippines is the No. 1 texting nation in the world. Between 350 and 400 million texts are sent daily in the Philippines, which is more than the U.S. and Europe combined!

Fact of the Day No. 6

One little brown bat has the ability to eat ~1000 mosquitoes in just one hour.

Image obtained from blog.duncraft.com.

Fact of the Day No. 5

As of July 2011, the population of the Philippines was estimated to be 101,833,938. This makes the Philippines the 12th most populated country in the world.

Image obtained from art.com.