Saturday, April 26, 2014
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Camp Routines
I'm in the Seychelles and...
• I have to check my bed for blister bugs
• My uniform is a bikini and I haven't worn shoes in weeks
• I'll take an hour and half trip to use the internet
The schedule here is pretty tight and there's not much time for faffing about. A typical day goes something like this, breakfast is at 6am, there's usually a lecture after that and the first dive goes out at 7:30am. We dekit and change tanks on the boat so we can go out for a second dive soon after that and are back in the bay by 10:30am. Lunch is at 11:30am and the afternoons are reserved for camp duties. Those who were doing duties in the morning kit up and go out for their dives in the afternoon. I don't know why but I'm always on morning dives (it's suddenly going to change now that I've said that). Dinner is at 18:30pm, the nightly meeting at 19:30pm and it's to bed shortly after that!
Each week new groups are chosen and duties are assigned for the different days. The four duty chunks are “Kitchen, Grounds, Tanks, and Boat.” If you're on kitchen, well that's pretty obvious what your group does that day. Grounds duty includes scrubbing the bathrooms and sweeping the pathways and dorms. Tanks duty is running the compressor to fill up our diving tanks and hauling the tanks from the compressor to the kit room. I prefer to be sat at the compressor filling tanks than hauling them up the hill! And when on Boat duty your group has to load up the trailer with the boat gear such as gasoline and our survey equipment. Then the trailer is taken down to the bay and the gear put on the boat. You also help out the captain as the Boat Biatch for the day.
I've started my practice survey diving and my buddy and I are working quite well together. We're the furthest along in the training and I think we may be starting to do real survey's next week. To do the survey dives we have to lay a 50 meter tape along the bottom following a bearing given by the captain. We are given a specific depth we have to cross, called the magic number. So the captain will tell us “no shallower than 2.5, cross 6 and no deeper than 16 meters” That means that we can lay our tape at 5.9 and finish at 6.1 or lay our tape from 2.5 and finish at 15.9 meters – depending on the reef. Once the tape is laid we swim on opposite sides of the tape 2.5meters away and back, zig zagging up the tape. This means our survey covers 5x50meters of the reef. We have underwater slates that we record every coral we see. If we see the same coral twice we don't need to record it again.
This week we had a special day on Wednesday. Five of us were selected to help out the Underwater Center in Beau Vallon. It was a PADI Project AWARE; Dive the Earth Day; Clean up Dive. The main aim of our dives was to kill the invasive species killing the reef – the ugly Crown of Thorns. This twenty armed sea star eats coral and without intervention will lead to the destruction of entire coral gardens. The only things that eat the Crown of Thorns have been overfished, resulting in massive CofT population outbreaks. Members from GVI, MCSS, Seychelles Fisheries and other organizations that utilize and value the coral reefs banned together today and assisted in the dives. We used long metal 'swords' to spear the CofT and bring them up to the boat where they are DNA tested before being shipped off to the landfill. We managed to collect 21 animals and picked up a fair amount of garbage in the reef. Hurrah!
We've seen Whalesharks! This week some members of our group were fortunate enough to spot them while diving. Because I was on the Crown of Thorns Cull I wasn't one of the lucky ones. However, only four people actually saw them and I'm sure the people who'd been diving at that site and didn't see them are more envious than I am. I'm still here for many more weeks, so I'm confident I'll see them here too. At least we've spotted them in the bay now!!
• I have to check my bed for blister bugs
• My uniform is a bikini and I haven't worn shoes in weeks
• I'll take an hour and half trip to use the internet
The schedule here is pretty tight and there's not much time for faffing about. A typical day goes something like this, breakfast is at 6am, there's usually a lecture after that and the first dive goes out at 7:30am. We dekit and change tanks on the boat so we can go out for a second dive soon after that and are back in the bay by 10:30am. Lunch is at 11:30am and the afternoons are reserved for camp duties. Those who were doing duties in the morning kit up and go out for their dives in the afternoon. I don't know why but I'm always on morning dives (it's suddenly going to change now that I've said that). Dinner is at 18:30pm, the nightly meeting at 19:30pm and it's to bed shortly after that!
Each week new groups are chosen and duties are assigned for the different days. The four duty chunks are “Kitchen, Grounds, Tanks, and Boat.” If you're on kitchen, well that's pretty obvious what your group does that day. Grounds duty includes scrubbing the bathrooms and sweeping the pathways and dorms. Tanks duty is running the compressor to fill up our diving tanks and hauling the tanks from the compressor to the kit room. I prefer to be sat at the compressor filling tanks than hauling them up the hill! And when on Boat duty your group has to load up the trailer with the boat gear such as gasoline and our survey equipment. Then the trailer is taken down to the bay and the gear put on the boat. You also help out the captain as the Boat Biatch for the day.
I've started my practice survey diving and my buddy and I are working quite well together. We're the furthest along in the training and I think we may be starting to do real survey's next week. To do the survey dives we have to lay a 50 meter tape along the bottom following a bearing given by the captain. We are given a specific depth we have to cross, called the magic number. So the captain will tell us “no shallower than 2.5, cross 6 and no deeper than 16 meters” That means that we can lay our tape at 5.9 and finish at 6.1 or lay our tape from 2.5 and finish at 15.9 meters – depending on the reef. Once the tape is laid we swim on opposite sides of the tape 2.5meters away and back, zig zagging up the tape. This means our survey covers 5x50meters of the reef. We have underwater slates that we record every coral we see. If we see the same coral twice we don't need to record it again.
This week we had a special day on Wednesday. Five of us were selected to help out the Underwater Center in Beau Vallon. It was a PADI Project AWARE; Dive the Earth Day; Clean up Dive. The main aim of our dives was to kill the invasive species killing the reef – the ugly Crown of Thorns. This twenty armed sea star eats coral and without intervention will lead to the destruction of entire coral gardens. The only things that eat the Crown of Thorns have been overfished, resulting in massive CofT population outbreaks. Members from GVI, MCSS, Seychelles Fisheries and other organizations that utilize and value the coral reefs banned together today and assisted in the dives. We used long metal 'swords' to spear the CofT and bring them up to the boat where they are DNA tested before being shipped off to the landfill. We managed to collect 21 animals and picked up a fair amount of garbage in the reef. Hurrah!
We've seen Whalesharks! This week some members of our group were fortunate enough to spot them while diving. Because I was on the Crown of Thorns Cull I wasn't one of the lucky ones. However, only four people actually saw them and I'm sure the people who'd been diving at that site and didn't see them are more envious than I am. I'm still here for many more weeks, so I'm confident I'll see them here too. At least we've spotted them in the bay now!!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Getting Adjusted
I'm in the Seychelles and...
• The day starts at 5:30am and ends at Beer o'clock (six pm)
• Lectures on whalesharks and sea turtles are part of the schedule
• Any free time goes towards studying septa, costa, columella, coenosteum etc...
I'm adjusting to communal life here on base slowly. It's hard to find “me” time in a big chunk; I have to steal it bit by bit – 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there. But the perk of living with a big group of people is there's always fun to be had. At one of our nightly meetings one of the volunteers started a game of Murder. He wrote out everyone's name on a bit of paper, locations around base and 'weapons.' I was to kill Zoe by the compressor with a ping pong paddle. Unfortunately I was killed at the picnic table with a snorkel before I could complete my kill. At the Friday night BBQ party some people went on a killing rampage – getting people by the fruit table with a toothbrush or in a wetsuit with a tampon (that was an interesting one!)
My knowledge of coral has increased by leaps and bounds and I’d like to consider myself a bit of an expert now. Five people passed the exam on the first round, and I'm proud to say I'm one of them, scoring 100%, my marine biology degree has come in handy! I've been signed off on all of the corals underwater – meaning I can competently identify all the variations. Next week I'm moving on to surveying.
Every day I'm going on two dives which if I were paying for at a dive shop would cost me a fortune! There are four dives a day and our compressor is running all the time to keep the tanks filled. My kit has become like a second skin to me and I'm completely comfortable with all the different tubes and knobs.
There have been diving issues with some of the volunteers, and since the point of this expedition is to be surveying underwater, if you can't dive – there's really no point in being here. One guy got a burst eardrum on his first dive and after seeing the specialist he's told he can't dive for six weeks. He rang up his insurance company and they strung him along for a while before deciding that this is a medical accident (well durrr!) and will pay for the cancellation. We had a goodbye party for him and it was sad to see him go.
Our base is located in Cap Ternay, and Bay Ternay is a protected marine park. This leads to an amazing variety of coral right off our home beach, but is really far from civilization.
The closest shop and bus station is Port Launay – a 45 minute walk away. And this isn't a leisurely stroll; it's a hike through the mountains over three gigantic hills. By the time I arrive at the bus station I'm drenched in sweat and madly fanning myself with a fan.
To get to Victoria, the only town of any size here in Seychelles, it's another 45min bus ride on the local bus – which whips around hairpin corners at breakneck speeds. By the time I arrive in town to use the internet or exchange money, I'm near dead and it's all I can do to walk to the shop and treat myself to a milkshake.
MCSS has come to our base to do a presentation on their research subject – whalesharks!! Here at GVI we help them out by doing weekly plankton tows and collecting water temperature data. MCSS (Marine Conservation Society Seychelles) is one of three whaleshark research groups in the world. They've spotted three animals near our bay just this week and since the water is getting murky with plankton (our visibility is decreased to about seven meters) there's a good chance we'll be seeing whalesharks here soon!!
• The day starts at 5:30am and ends at Beer o'clock (six pm)
• Lectures on whalesharks and sea turtles are part of the schedule
• Any free time goes towards studying septa, costa, columella, coenosteum etc...
I'm adjusting to communal life here on base slowly. It's hard to find “me” time in a big chunk; I have to steal it bit by bit – 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there. But the perk of living with a big group of people is there's always fun to be had. At one of our nightly meetings one of the volunteers started a game of Murder. He wrote out everyone's name on a bit of paper, locations around base and 'weapons.' I was to kill Zoe by the compressor with a ping pong paddle. Unfortunately I was killed at the picnic table with a snorkel before I could complete my kill. At the Friday night BBQ party some people went on a killing rampage – getting people by the fruit table with a toothbrush or in a wetsuit with a tampon (that was an interesting one!)
My knowledge of coral has increased by leaps and bounds and I’d like to consider myself a bit of an expert now. Five people passed the exam on the first round, and I'm proud to say I'm one of them, scoring 100%, my marine biology degree has come in handy! I've been signed off on all of the corals underwater – meaning I can competently identify all the variations. Next week I'm moving on to surveying.
Every day I'm going on two dives which if I were paying for at a dive shop would cost me a fortune! There are four dives a day and our compressor is running all the time to keep the tanks filled. My kit has become like a second skin to me and I'm completely comfortable with all the different tubes and knobs.
There have been diving issues with some of the volunteers, and since the point of this expedition is to be surveying underwater, if you can't dive – there's really no point in being here. One guy got a burst eardrum on his first dive and after seeing the specialist he's told he can't dive for six weeks. He rang up his insurance company and they strung him along for a while before deciding that this is a medical accident (well durrr!) and will pay for the cancellation. We had a goodbye party for him and it was sad to see him go.
Our base is located in Cap Ternay, and Bay Ternay is a protected marine park. This leads to an amazing variety of coral right off our home beach, but is really far from civilization.
The closest shop and bus station is Port Launay – a 45 minute walk away. And this isn't a leisurely stroll; it's a hike through the mountains over three gigantic hills. By the time I arrive at the bus station I'm drenched in sweat and madly fanning myself with a fan.
To get to Victoria, the only town of any size here in Seychelles, it's another 45min bus ride on the local bus – which whips around hairpin corners at breakneck speeds. By the time I arrive in town to use the internet or exchange money, I'm near dead and it's all I can do to walk to the shop and treat myself to a milkshake.
MCSS has come to our base to do a presentation on their research subject – whalesharks!! Here at GVI we help them out by doing weekly plankton tows and collecting water temperature data. MCSS (Marine Conservation Society Seychelles) is one of three whaleshark research groups in the world. They've spotted three animals near our bay just this week and since the water is getting murky with plankton (our visibility is decreased to about seven meters) there's a good chance we'll be seeing whalesharks here soon!!
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Life In Seychelles
The countdown is over!
After 4 days of traveling, 3 airplane rides, and meeting 2 lovely friends in London, 1 tired Shanna arrived in Seychelles.
I'd been dreaming about it for years, planning it for months and packing for weeks, and I'm finally here!
I'm in the Seychelles and....
• The ocean is warmer than my shower
• SPF 50 sunscreen isn't strong enough
• A typical day at the office consists of what tourists call recreation
I've been in the Seychelles for what feels like ages and have settled down into the routines of base camp. After arriving we discovered that we were going to be based on Mahe Island, which is much more comfortable and larger than Curiuse. There are 18 volunteers and 7 staff members. After a few days we all learned the routines of how to maintain a self-sufficient camp.
Our base camp is located on an abandoned youth center. There are several derelict buildings that the locals stripped for materials but two of them were spared and the government rents them to Global Vision International (GVI). We have running water and electricity as well as a working kitchen. We sleep in dorms and hang mosquito nets from precarious strings run from the ceiling beams. We cook in shifts; some are better at cooking than others!
The reason we're all out here is to do underwater survey work for GVI. This phase the focus is on coral abundance line transect surveys, turtle surveys and plankton tows. GVI gives all its raw data collected by us volunteers to several different scientific organizations that use it to monitor reef health amongst other things.
Besides running the camp to serve our basic needs and sanitation – we have to learn about what goes on behind the scenes of scuba diving. When you go to a dive center for a recreational dive, everything is taken care of for you; all you have to do is show up and go down underwater. With a volunteer organization there are no paid workers to sort things out for you. We have a compressor and all have to learn how to maintain and run it to fill the tanks. We have to clean and take care of our regulators and BCD's and kit up our own equipment.
The hardest part so far has been the learning the 49 different coral genre found in the Seychelles. Those of you who know a bit about phylogeny will know that under genus is the species level and each species of coral looks a bit different. While we don't need to know the names of the species we have to recognize and place them in the correct genre. Being a marine biology major does help with learning the Latin names but I studied things found in the temperate ocean so I've never learned about corals before and it's all very new to me.
I've been diving everyday which has thus far consisted of coral spots where the staff point out random corals and quiz us on what they are. I am devastated to admit that my underwater camera BROKE on my first dive (WTF?!) but hope to collect photos from other people. Anyway, once we're competent at recognizing the corals and passed the exam we're going to start our survey work.
P.S. The water column has been slowly filling with plankton and we're hoping to spot some whale sharks around our beach soon.
After 4 days of traveling, 3 airplane rides, and meeting 2 lovely friends in London, 1 tired Shanna arrived in Seychelles.
I'd been dreaming about it for years, planning it for months and packing for weeks, and I'm finally here!
I'm in the Seychelles and....
• The ocean is warmer than my shower
• SPF 50 sunscreen isn't strong enough
• A typical day at the office consists of what tourists call recreation
I've been in the Seychelles for what feels like ages and have settled down into the routines of base camp. After arriving we discovered that we were going to be based on Mahe Island, which is much more comfortable and larger than Curiuse. There are 18 volunteers and 7 staff members. After a few days we all learned the routines of how to maintain a self-sufficient camp.
Our base camp is located on an abandoned youth center. There are several derelict buildings that the locals stripped for materials but two of them were spared and the government rents them to Global Vision International (GVI). We have running water and electricity as well as a working kitchen. We sleep in dorms and hang mosquito nets from precarious strings run from the ceiling beams. We cook in shifts; some are better at cooking than others!
The reason we're all out here is to do underwater survey work for GVI. This phase the focus is on coral abundance line transect surveys, turtle surveys and plankton tows. GVI gives all its raw data collected by us volunteers to several different scientific organizations that use it to monitor reef health amongst other things.
Besides running the camp to serve our basic needs and sanitation – we have to learn about what goes on behind the scenes of scuba diving. When you go to a dive center for a recreational dive, everything is taken care of for you; all you have to do is show up and go down underwater. With a volunteer organization there are no paid workers to sort things out for you. We have a compressor and all have to learn how to maintain and run it to fill the tanks. We have to clean and take care of our regulators and BCD's and kit up our own equipment.
The hardest part so far has been the learning the 49 different coral genre found in the Seychelles. Those of you who know a bit about phylogeny will know that under genus is the species level and each species of coral looks a bit different. While we don't need to know the names of the species we have to recognize and place them in the correct genre. Being a marine biology major does help with learning the Latin names but I studied things found in the temperate ocean so I've never learned about corals before and it's all very new to me.
I've been diving everyday which has thus far consisted of coral spots where the staff point out random corals and quiz us on what they are. I am devastated to admit that my underwater camera BROKE on my first dive (WTF?!) but hope to collect photos from other people. Anyway, once we're competent at recognizing the corals and passed the exam we're going to start our survey work.
P.S. The water column has been slowly filling with plankton and we're hoping to spot some whale sharks around our beach soon.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
WHAT WHAT? It's Not Over!!
By some strange and wonderful twist of fate, FIVE YEARS TO THE DATE from when I was traveling home FROM Africa, I was traveling BACK to Africa!
That's right.
April 3 2004 I was leaving Africa after an amazing experience in Kenya.
April 3 2009 I was going to Africa for an amazing experience in Seychelles.
I wrote emails about my experiences and will share them here, on this blog.
April 3 2009 - June 19 2009
That's right.
April 3 2004 I was leaving Africa after an amazing experience in Kenya.
April 3 2009 I was going to Africa for an amazing experience in Seychelles.
I wrote emails about my experiences and will share them here, on this blog.
April 3 2009 - June 19 2009
Shanna Returns To Africa
Just when I thought I could settle down, that travel bug bite started to itch and I was hankering for another adventure.
There’s a marine conservation project in the Seychelles that I’ve always had my eye on, so I applied and am proud to say, I’m going back to Africa!!
I’m volunteering with Global Vision International in a project that assists the local NGO’s with biological studies and conservation programmes including coral reef research, invertebrate surveys, whale shark migration observations, plankton sampling, turtle nesting research and water turtle surveys.
Just when I thought I could settle down, that travel bug bite started to itch and I was hankering for another adventure.
There’s a marine conservation project in the Seychelles that I’ve always had my eye on, so I applied and am proud to say, I’m going back to Africa!!
I’m volunteering with Global Vision International in a project that assists the local NGO’s with biological studies and conservation programmes including coral reef research, invertebrate surveys, whale shark migration observations, plankton sampling, turtle nesting research and water turtle surveys.
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