This morning I awoke well-rested and ready to take on the day. I took my time getting ready and heading to brekky. Breakfast was delicious as always. Sam told me about a story of how he watched a baby sea turtle get eaten this morning. It's the circle of life I understand, but sad all the same. When baby turtles hatch on the beach they have to scuttle down to the water. On the way they are easy prey for swooping seagulls who stand guard waiting for their next meal. If the turtles can make it to the water they still have to get through hoards of sharks and the continuous pecking of seagulls until they reach deeper water. It's a miracle any of them make it at all. It makes every turtle I see that much more interesting and powerful. They went through hell just to exist and now here they are, swimming and gliding about. Truly incredible feats of nature. After breakfast we headed out to Shark Bay to do a coral health lab. You use these little color cards that show differing shades of color for the coral. You then record the darkest and lightest colorations for the coral you observe. This is combined with a global database to help access the health (decline or recovery) of reef systems across the world. I was pretty excited for the lab and thought this was a wonderful skill to know how to do, especially since the cards we were using are part of a global organization that compiles the data. On the way to the bay we witnessed a black noddy tern coming to the end of its life. It was a younger one that had fallen victim to the pisonia tree and was destined to become the nutrients that the tree needs to survive. Another stark reminder of how life comes and goes. The interconnected of everything seemed to be the theme for the day. I walked past quietly, thanking the bird for its role here and continued to walk on, not allowing myself too much more time to think on it. Once we got to Shark Bay, everyone got finned up and started heading into the water. There were a few people heading out to the coral patches, Zach paired with Hailey and Russ paired with Nora. As the rest of us were getting ready to follow Trisha in, a huge figure swam within a meter of Trish. Edd noticed it as a shark and tried to get Trisha's attention. "Trisha. Trisha. TRISHA!" as his pitch went from bass to soprano. Trisha quickly scuttled out of the water realizing that it was a tiger shark in the water. Most of the sharks we see out here are black tip reef sharks, lemon sharks and quitar sharks (aka shovelnose rays). They are all relatively harmless to humans, but tiger sharks are a whole different ball game. They are the trash cans of the sea, ready and willing to eat anything and quite aggressive. All of us still on shore starting screaming at the others to come back in. No longer in reach of Trisha, the tiger began heading right towards Zach and Hailey. Watching that massive beast of an animal close ranks on my friends was absolutely terrifying. I can't imagine what it was like to be in the water. It veered past those two, made a pass around Russ and Nora before swimming off into the distance. This all passed by in a matter of minutes, but it stains the memories for all of us. The sheer panic that rose in Trisha's and Ed's voice showed the potential for a not-so-happy ending. For instructors with years of experience in the field they were reasonably shook with the rest of us. We ended up canceling the lab and coming in for the day. We were safe, with all of our bits very much intact, a little frazzled but overall okay. In the blink of an eye today, we could've lost someone. Due to a quick reaction and a dash of luck we didn't. This life we have here is so fragile. Today had me thinking a lot on Willie. I miss him incredibly all the time. Within the span of an evening a life that was here was no longer. A good friend who I will never hear laugh or see smile again. To suddenly be holding onto to fragments of memories, struggling more and more to keep his image strong in my mind. It's only been a few months since he was taken and I'm still learning how grief works. Memories fade much like anything else, but in the grieving process it becomes a cruel reality. Sometimes I struggle to remember what he sounded like or what his face looked liked. I'm grateful for all the memories I have with him. All the long drives and deep talks. The parties and adventures. The pictures that I can look at any time I want. That one video that I get to hear him speak for 2 seconds that I watch on repeat. A beautiful, fragile existence we have here. Much too short to waste on the trivial and unimportant. I'd been stuck in my head the last few weeks, stuck on my future, stuck on making the right decisions, stuck on trying to prove that I was up to something worthwhile. I rarely stopped to enjoy the present wonders. Today was a blunt reminder of how life comes as quickly as it goes. It is up to us to be present for the in-betweens. To enjoy the here and now before we can't anymore. We had an outer reef snorkel planned for the afternoon and I made the decision to leave the GoPro behind. The footage and pictures are nice to have but they have a way of encompassing the whole experience. Today I wanted to really enjoy the reef, take it all in, be whole and attentive. It was a wonderful decision to make. Today I saw more than any other outer reef trip we'd been on. The first drop into the water, I got to see so many beautiful colorations of coral, purples, blues, some even slightly fluorescent. There were schools of fish everywhere and without your arm sticking you are a much better swimming companion. They surrounded me and hung around for a bit. In the water it pays to be quiet. I got to peak into little coral canyons and grottos without spooking the fauna there. I saw some squids skirting across the top of the reef and turtles swimming along the bottom of the reef shelf. I was present and there, able to admire without scaring them off by trying to get the "perfect shot". At our second drop off point there were two eagle rays that glided through (quickly turning back once they saw us). I will never get over their pure majesticness. The way they soar through the water with such ease, like an eagle in the air, they look so graceful. There were multiple turtles swimming through, enjoying the delicacies of the reef. Sam and I saw another eagle ray swim across the top of the reef and then a school of three come past while most of the group was out looking at an ancient loggerhead turtle. He paid none of us any mind. Given how large he was he'd seen and survived much worse than a few floundering humans. We got back from the snorkel with enough time to get our project proposal approved and enjoy the sunset. I set up a timelapse for the sunset but the nice thing with those is that I just set and leave it. No maintenance, no taking away from the sunset experience. I brought out a cup of hot tea and enjoyed watching the colors change across the waves. It was a beautiful ending to an eventful day. I quite enjoy the ritual of watching it and will miss that when I leave. Until then I intend to pay more attention to the now and really soak it all in. We've only got this one go at things and well, we better make it count.
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About MeAn educated outdoor enthusiast with a passion for the planet and all its inhabitants, I wish to be a liaison between the scientific world and the public. I believe that knowledge and compassion are the keys to understanding and bettering our complex existence on this beautiful Earth. Archives |