Torch with a twist

Found a really cool thing for sale today in the bustling metropolis that is the JC Shop (the same place that was selling the potatoes).

I was on the hunt for equipment for the upcoming Tetepare and Rendova leatherback turtle season. The turtle monitors patrol the beaches at night to look for nesting mothers, conserve nests and ensure the hatchlings make it safely to sea. The monitors are obviously careful not to disturb the nesting mothers and hatchlings, but in a place where the nights are as black as you'll find anywhere, the monitors do need a torch sometimes. Black sand beaches have a habit of sucking up light.

Tetepare receives at least six-metres of rain a year, so the turtle monitors are often patrolling in torrential rain which has a habit of killing standard torches fairly promptly. I was

delighted to discover that JC had waterproof torches for sale, but these torches had a special extra feature.

Apparently this otherwise fairly standard looking dive torch has magical shark repelling properties – see close up of the packaging below. I'm not quite convinced of the efficacy of the 'special yellow body', especially since the torch appears to me to be blue...but the shark in the picture does seem to be sweating! Who am I to judge.