{"id":670,"date":"2010-06-18T11:17:25","date_gmt":"2010-06-18T10:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bvblog.wpengine.com\/?p=670"},"modified":"2023-08-23T12:06:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T11:06:22","slug":"thoughts-from-shore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/thoughts-from-shore\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts from shore"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am writing this blog entry from inside our classroom Nosy Cao, sitting at the desk below the window which opens onto a view of Half Moon Beach.\u00a0 From this angle, I can observe at least seven distinguishable shades of aquamarine in the ocean below me, and there\u2019s not a cloud in the sky.\u00a0 There are half a dozen pirogues out on the water, their white sails reflecting bright and radiant in this morning\u2019s sunshine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

View from Nosy Cao, the classroom<\/p><\/div>\n

Unfortunately I\u2019ve got a bit of a head cold at the moment and thus have not been able to equalize for the last couple days.\u00a0 However, instead of continuing to feel sorry for myself, wallowing in the sorrows of being land-bound, I thought this would be a better use of my time.\u00a0 Already the \u201cnew\u201d set of volunteers (all four of us) have been here nearly three weeks.\u00a0 The three of us who were not yet Advanced Open Water certified have now finished that course (yay!) and we have started doing some Point Intercept Transects (P.I.T.s) as well.\u00a0 We\u2019ve almost finished learning our fish species (they were so much easier to recognize once I had actually seen them swimming around), and hopefully we\u2019ll be moving on to fish belts next week.<\/p>\n

The weather here has been interesting.\u00a0 I was expecting cooler days (mid-20s) since it is the winter season, but already we\u2019ve had a couple pretty wet, rainy and windy bouts as well.\u00a0 On our first day off, only a week into our expedition, we took a group of pirogues over to the island Nosy Hao for the day.\u00a0 The weather was slightly overcast when we left, but by midday the sky had really gotten grey and there was thunder and lightening in the distance.\u00a0 This quickly evolved into a full out rainstorm right over the island, and we could no longer see the mainland.\u00a0 We tried to shelter ourselves from the pounding of the cold rain under the pirogue sails but it was a pretty tight squeeze and ultimately a limited success.\u00a0 A few of us decided to take our chances in the ocean instead, so we threw off our already soaked clothes and ran into the water.\u00a0 Once in the sea, it was actually quite a surreal experience: floating in gorgeous bright blue-green water with black skies above, and heavy raindrops shooting furiously down at us, before bouncing back out like highland dancers.\u00a0 Naturally we made the most of the stormy waves and we swam and jumped like little kids in the world\u2019s biggest bathtub.\u00a0 Once the rain settled enough to attempt a return trip, we quickly loaded the pirogues and made for Andavadoaka.\u00a0 The trip took a long time because of the wind, waves, and rain, but it was an experience I will not soon forget.\u00a0 The storm itself ended up lasting for at least another two days, during which we had no power and part of the well pump was damaged.\u00a0 So we didn\u2019t have running water for about ten days after that either, but that wasn\u2019t too big a deal once we got used to it.\u00a0 (The pump was fixed a couple days ago and everything is back to normal now).<\/p>\n

So far I have really enjoyed my time here, and I\u2019m thrilled to be surrounded by marine life everyday.\u00a0 Even when not diving, it\u2019s been nice to go walk amongst the tidal pools or snorkel in the seagrass beds to see what\u2019s hiding and surviving amongst their flora.\u00a0 That said, I\u2019m really looking forward to being over this cold so I can get back in the sea and help with more science dives.\u00a0 The corals and fish are so beautiful and I love seeing them interact and behave in their natural habitat.\u00a0 About a week ago we saw a HUGE southern stingray at the Lovobe site.\u00a0 It must have been over five feet long (without barb and tail) and nearly four feet wide.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t seem too concerned about us and we were able to watch it for a while before it rose up off the sand (similar to a fighter jet) and swam off gracefully.\u00a0 Although that ray was amazing, my favourite fish experience thus far was a few days ago during my underwater benthic test.\u00a0 Thinking that I was a manatee, or at least a larger fish, a little golden trevally followed me for the whole dive.\u00a0 Sam (my boyfriend\/ dive buddy) told me that it hovered just beside my bright yellow scuba tank for most of the time, although I was lucky enough to see it pop up twice near my BCD.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what specific species it thought I was, but either way, I must have looked the part of strong and fearless protector.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I will have many more enjoyable and memorable aquatic experiences, but I was very grateful for that one.\u00a0 As silly as it may sound, that little fish\u2019s behaviour made me feel like I was welcome here.\u00a0 It made me feel like I was actually a part of the reef ecosystem that I am lucky enough to visit on a daily basis, and I was more than happy to share my dive with such an adorable local.\u00a0 And I\u2019m pretty certain that it helped me pass my test too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laurenne Schiller. From this angle, I can observe at least seven distinguishable shades of aquamarine in the ocean below me, and there\u2019s not a cloud in the sky…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":28415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-velondriake-madagascar"],"yoast_head":"\nThoughts from shore - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Laurenne Schiller. 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