UPDATE!!!

The Mo'orean gods may be on my side! This afternoon, just after I had come back from finishing my experiment, my professor excitedly told me that someone MAY HAVE FOUND MY CAMERA! A very kind gentleman asked for my name and the make of the camera and said his friend had found a camera in the ocean and it had pictures of fish and cages, the exact ones I was disassembling at the time.  I gave him the number of the station and he said either he or his friend would call and let me know if it was indeed my camera.  I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I get my camera back!

Mo'orea: Day 35

Quite contrary to yesterday's more somber post, this morning was exhilarating.  We dove at the fore reef, which is the reef just outside the lagoon.  A couple of years ago an Acanthaster (Crown of Thorns Seastar) outbreak devastated the live coral but now, the reef is making a great recovery and we were able to witness new coral recruits popping up on top of the dead coral.  We dropped down to about twenty-five feet, with a great expanse of reef below us and clear blue water in every direction.  My dive buddy and I were assigned to lead our small pack, keeping a slow pace, which allowed us to observe the intricate details of the reef.  As we followed the contours of the reef, with its flat plains separated by mini valleys, life was surely abundant.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

There was such a wealth of diversity and creatures so beautiful, they seemed unreal. Eels glared at us with their wide white eyes and open jaws, lavender soft corals swayed with the surge and neon yellow sponges made bright appearances amongst the drab mix of browns and grays of the dead coral.  As we swam up the small ridges, masses of fish appeared like a mirage over the road on a warm summer day.  Chaetodonts (butterfly fish) elegantly moved through the water so close to us that we could see the fine details of their patterns.  For the most part, the fish were unalarmed by our presence, swimming with us as if we were fish too.  Black tip reef sharks would glide right in front of us, and my heart would pound quite quickly whenever they got too close.  However, they are relatively small and unaggressive, so there wasn't much worry there.

 As we neared the end of our dive, I noticed a large fish swimming towards us, so I tapped my dive buddy to point it out to him.  Within a few seconds we realized it was not just a large fish, but in fact an 8 foot lemon shark.  He grabbed for my arm, and I squeezed back, afraid that this shark, much bulkier and obviously larger than the fairly docile black tips, was headed straight for us.  Fish began swimming in our direction, only adding to our fear that perhaps we should be swimming away too.  Since my dive buddy and I were in the lead, we were the first to notice the lemon shark, and I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone else had noticed what lay ahead (they hadn't yet, but they would in a matter of seconds).  Although I was intimidated by the size and prehistoric demeanor of the shark, I somehow lost most of the fear and was instead in a state of awe.  I felt so honored to be able to witness some of the ocean's most fascinating creatures and also proud of myself for taking the leap of faith and learning to dive.  Mind you, all of this took place within twenty seconds and before the shark came within fifteen feet, it decided it was uninterested in us and veered in the other direction.

Although the ride back was choppy and I normally would have been sea sick, I could not help but smile, even with the wind and rain striking my face.  It would have been more than ideal to have my camera on that dive, but I still have my eyes and that experience will stay with me forever.

It is starting to pour now and I think it is the island mourning our approaching departure.  Maybe not; the rain has already stopped.

Mo'orea: Day 33

No matter how many shooting stars you wish on, sometimes things just don't go your way.  This past week has been quite unlucky for me.  Two of the most expensive and important items I brought on this trip are now either in need of repair or lost at sea.  First, my SCUBA regulator started making funny noises and I have since been using the class regulator and a friend's extra BC.  Then yesterday while diving, my camera, which is extremely buoyant, came out of my mesh bag while getting out my clipboard.  There was a strong current, which swiftly took it away and is now floating somewhere in Opunohu Bay.

So much money has gone into this trip and I now just lost a substantial chunk of it.  Luckily, the regulator can be fixed and I have been able to borrow equipment.  I am terribly sad about my camera though.  I was really starting to fall in love with it, maybe even enjoying it as much as my DSLR.  It was so portable and was able to capture all of the colors and lighting as well as or better than real life. It is such a shame since I have an extra day on this island and we were planning on dedicating it to taking photos (one of the other individuals that is staying an extra day is also into photography).  

Although this week may not have been the most fortunate, I cannot bring myself to get too worked up about it.  This island is just too beautiful.  Minutes after losing my camera, I saw a shark.  Then, on the drive back, a rainbow, the sunrise over Tahiti this morning and three rays this afternoon.  I realized how lucky I am just to be here.  An expensive trip no doubt, but a luxury most can only dream of.  I am still in one piece, only suffering minor cuts and bites compared to the rest of my classmates.  I have learned so much and my research has the potential to be considered for publishing.  It's a mix of emotions, but mostly I'm glad to be going home.  I cannot wait to be dry for more than 24 hours, to smell of fresh laundry rather than mildew and sea water, to see my family and friends and be back to a place where things don't often break or get lost.  

Mo'orea: Day 30

It has been exactly a month since I left Los Angeles for this tropical paradise.  Somehow, the time has gone by both fast and slow all at once.  Fast when I think about how long a month feels like at UCLA, yet slow when I consider how much our projects have transformed from our days in the Botany classroom.  The upcoming week will surely be the former with so much left to pack into our last days here.

It is difficult to describe every detail that has happened since my last post, but one theme definitely stands out in my mind, which is teamwork.  I am so thankful for the great dynamic of both my project teams.  However, even more impressive is the willingness of groups helping each other.  So many of us have been injured or ill and it warms my heart to see other groups eagerly stepping in to be a dive buddy, or to help remove algae from cages.

On a lighter note, I have finally succumb to the wrath of insect bites.  This whole trip, I have managed to get by with only a few mosquito bites here and there, with none of them itching (which is not the norm-everyone else seems to have been suffering from much more severe insect attacks).  A few days ago however, I woke up with 8 bites terribly itchy bites on my left leg and arm.  Even after using After Bite (anti-itch bug bite gel) I can barely keep myself from scratching.  I still consider myself lucky though, if this is the greatest extent of my injuries/illnesses.  No jellyfish stings, no sunburns, and thank goodness no urchin spines in my feet.  I sure hope I didn't just jinx myself!

P.S. Hopefully more pictures will be coming soon!

Mo'orea: Day 19

Although perhaps not the most productive day in terms of projects, it was none the less quite packed.  After breakfast, we once again sampled along 5 transects in Gump Reef, counting Lithophaga in Porites lobata for three hours.  The data did not look promising, but I am hoping that when we compare the data to other sites, it will reveal more about the infaunal community of coral heads.  Then, after lunch and some data entry, my group and I decided to visit the juice factory just down the road.  We were a few minutes late for the tour, but they were gracious enough to give us our own.  The factory was very hot and humid but it was interesting to see the whole pineapples complete the process of becoming packaged juice.  Along the tour, we came across the jam station and it just so happened that a taste test was being completed, so we got to try some pamplemousse (grapefruit) jam which was so delicious!  The grapefruits here and much unlike those in America, these are green and much less bitter.  

Back in the classroom, I picked up a Tahiti travel book and learned some interesting things about the Society Islands.  First, the seviche often served at meals is actually a popular dish on the islands and the cream I have been tasting is actually coconut milk.  Also, the black pearl market is only second to tourism.      Which reminds me, I still have to set the black pearl I have from Hawaii.  

After dinner, I lay on the dock to watch the stars with a few other girls.  The night was very clear and the Milky Way shone bright.  We found Saturn, Mars and a few other constellations, but mostly, we made up our own.  I saw a total of six shooting stars that night, remembering to make wishes on each one.  As I lay there, the smell of deet reminded me of fishing.  It has been a while since we have gone as a family, but I can picture some of those moments with perfect clarity.  Of course, I will never forget the time I fell in the river at Mammoth.  I thought about how far away I am from home, yet at the same time, in comparison to the distance from the stars, I also felt so close and so tiny in this expanse of universe.  

Mo'orea: Day 16

I finally found some time to upload photos, so here are some from this evening's sunset (really last night's since I'm writing in the following morning). We headed over to the Hilton down the road but unfortunately, left a little too late.  I did capture a few nice photos along the walk though.  

Mo'orea: Day 13

This morning it dawned (no pun intended) on me that more than a third of this trip has gone by.  Each day has been so busy that I barely even realized how much time had passed.  This morning began with breakfast at 6:30, consisting of the usual baguette with an assortment of tropical jams, peanut butter and Nesse (Nutella) as well as Q-Rox (Cocoa Puffs), K-Rox (Kix), and Frosted Flakes.  The milk here is sold non-refrigerated so our milk is often warm at breakfast, in which case I do not have cereal on those days. Luckily, it was cold today so I opted for the Q-Rox.  Most of my classmates find it odd that I include the food I eat in my journal, but frankly, I find it quite interesting.  Although our diet here is not entirely different from what I am used to, I find the differences fascinating.  There is definitely much less meat and hardly any eggs with our meals.

Anyways, on with the rest of my day.  At 7:30, we loaded up a motor boat with our dive gear, a small flotation boat and survey equipment and headed for the reef crest.  We were then dropped off, leaving us only with the inflatable boat (not meant as a life preserver) in wind driven waves.  Our task was to survey Porites Lobata (a species of coral) for the presence of Lithophaga drill holes. Lithophaga is also known as the date mussel and bores into coral heads.  Unfortunately, the strong current and lack of Lithophaga made this morning's adventure a bit unsuccessful.  Every time we were surveying a coral head, the current would knock us into another coral head.  Luckily, our professor came back for us not long after we had completed our surveying.

Just as we docked back at Gump Station, we decided to join another group heading to Maharepa on the other side of the bay.  The reef there was filled with Porites Rus (another species of coral) and a fair number of fish.  Other people have seen sea turtles and sharks, but sadly, I did not see any today.

After lunch, we continued our never ending task of sorting sediment.  For hours every other afternoon, we have to sort through bags of sediment taken from the reef crest.  By now, it wreaks of decaying organisms and sea water, making this task even more unpleasant.  Using forceps, we must sort the sediment into different piles: shells, coral rubble, algae flakes, urchin spines, etc.  It's like if there were 10 different types of rice all mixed together and you had to separate each type.  Luckily, we only have one more day left of sorting.

Finally, after dinner we have to write our proposals for one of our group projects (which I will do right after I finish this post).  As you can tell, each day is packed.  I never spend more than five waking minutes in my room, which I don't mind since our rooms are somewhat rudimentary.  I will have to include a photo when I return.

Tomorrow should be another busy day, as we begin our second day of our other group projects (each person has two group projects: one for each professor).  Our site for this project is the beautiful sailing school.  It looks like something you would see on a postcard and the life below water is just as wonderful.

Time to write my proposal!

sailing school