Neptunes revisited - 12:12 pm

19 Nov 2009

Our stay here on Vamizi Island is sadly coming to an end. What makes it even harder is that we have been treated to some of the most exceptional diving in this third week. We returned to Neptunes this week, there was 30-meter visibility and no current, it was bliss.

We descended down to about 25 meters along the wall and then began to make our way into the crevice, escorted by two rather large grey reef sharks. Once in there you are not even sure where to start looking, there is life above you, below you, to your left, to your right, it is almost overwhelming. I admire Grant for being able to translate the beauty of this place on film, because if I had the camera in my hands it would be like watching a hyperactive kid in a candy shop.

The star of the show today had to have been two gigantic potato bass. Grant for some reason caught the fancy of these 150-pound fish, and they stuck with him for the majority of the dive. They seem like quite intelligent, curious fish. They swim up very close and turn their bodies so that their large eyes meet yours when you are diving with them.

We explored this area for about an hour and then unfortunately had to begin our ascent. Time goes so quickly when you are exploring such a diverse and unique landscape. Three days left here, lets see what surprises are still in store.
Leah

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Natures rubik’s cube - 07:57 am

16 Nov 2009

How to keep yourself entertained for hours on a coral Island.
Step one, find what looks like a very unripe, green fruit but is actually a mangrove seed.

Step two, peel it very carefully, like and orange.

Step three, let all the sections come apart and try your best to get them back together. (Success is not a guaranteed)

Will write more later on, but some things in nature are just too cool!
Leahb

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The village - 07:57 am

16 Nov 2009

Grant and I got an amazing opportunity this weekend, to travel to a fishing village here on Vamizi Island. The journey there took about an hour as we bumped along on a road strategically carved around coral outcrops. 

We drove as close as we could then got out of the car and walked for about 10 mins, passing small baobab and amarula trees as we went. Our guides had gone ahead of us and asked if it was okay if Grant and I took some pictures while we visited and this seemed to be okay with the villagers. When we arrived there was a small group of men and woman working around a massive fishing net, salted fish was drying on various tables around the village and tons of smiling, happy children were running about. Everyone seemed a little reserved at first but the atmosphere changed very quickly.

I approached a lady holding her young daughter and asked (mostly in hand signals) if I could take a picture of her. She agreed, so I took a few quick shots. I figured she might like to see how nice the photograph had come out and I went over and showed her on the small camera screen. She could not believe it! She laughed and laughed as she looked from this picture to me, then back to the picture again. This may have been the first time in her life that she had seen herself and her child captured in a simple photograph. I think in the age of digital photography we have almost forgotten how special and unique a photograph can be and I am grateful to her for reminding me of that.

Her laughter soon got the attention of the children nearby and pretty soon I could not take photographs fast enough. You have got to love children because no matter where you are in the world they have the same uninhibited sense of curiosity and fearlessness. Grant wanted to get some footage of the village as well, but when the video camera came out he was surrounded in a matter of seconds, and it soon descended into utter chaos. These kids could not decide if they wanted to be in front of or behind the camera, but as long as they were close enough to Grant they knew they were going to see something cool. We may not have been able to get much footage from this visit, but seeing the smiles on their faces made it worth every second.

Our guides were keen to keep moving, because there was still plenty to see. We saw the school, the mosque, the cultural center, the sacred lake, a 400 year old building made out of coral, etc, etc. I could write an entire entry on each of these sites, but for now I must get back to work.

Leahb

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Waiting till dark - 12:32 pm

13 Nov 2009

I like to think of myself as being a pretty adventurous person. I enjoy hiking, diving, looking for strange little creatures in strange little places, but an important thing to note is that I enjoy doing all of this in the day, when there is a gigantic ball of light in the sky. My adventurous spirit has definitely been put to the test out here.

Coconut crabs are freaky, rather large, nocturnal critters. In the daytime they stay hidden in large holes all over the island but as the daylight fades, they emerge out of these burrows and begin to forage. All of this behaviour is absolutely fine with me, I am happy that this crab and I have chosen separate times to get on with our business and by all means, forage when I am safely tucked into my bed. Although last night, I did not stay safely tucked in my bed.

Grant and I began our exploration as soon as the sun began to fade. Kitted out with very snazzy head torches our HD camera, and proper shoes (in order to keep all digits intact) we headed out into the night. Now I have walked trails at night before, trying your best to ignore the suspicious rustling close by, the only difference with this evening was that when we heard these suspicious noises we made a bee-line for the action. 

After a few very tense, hot and sweaty hours we were finally rewarded with our first proper glimpse of a young coconut crab. I surprised myself by how overjoyed I was. The coconut crab is actually a fascinating little animal. As it grows, it finds a more accommodating shell to move into, until the point where there is no shell big enough for it. At this point the crabs abdomen hardens and it digs a hole for safety during the day. Now apparently, the Samango Monkeys here actually eat these massive crabs, now that is something to loose sleep over!
Leahb

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Second chance - 08:27 am

12 Nov 2009

We have had a major setback here in the field. The underwater camera we use has decided that it has had enough of this, and packed up. We can still film but the problem is that we cannot get the media off of the camera cards. Sigh. The logistics team in the office has been awesome though and are sending us a replacement camera as we speak. So we will dive again!

For now we will be operating with just the terrestrial camera, which is why when Grant and I got word that they were excavating an old green turtle nest we jumped at the opportunity to tag along.

A conservation team called Maluane has been set up here on Vamizi for 6 years now. They do amazing work with turtle monitoring, tagging, tracking, etc. They gentleman who we went along with on this excavation explained to me that most days he walks up to 15kms along the beach looking for tracks of a newly laid clutch or alternatively signs that the hatchlings have left the nest. Today we returned to a sight that had been marked just short of three months prior, to count how many hatchlings made it as well as to see if any of the weaker ones could be saved. 

I had no idea what to expect as the team started digging and sifting handfuls of sand out of this narrow hole. When the egg casing started to appear, the hole must have been the full length of this mans arm. It is truly amazing to think that the female turtle can dig a nest like this with just her rear flippers. Out of 113 counted eggs, only eight seemed to not have made it and as sad as it was for these eight, that is an excellent average. As the one gentleman was sifting through the sand, there was the tiniest detectable movement. It appeared that there were two little hatchlings that were weak, but still alive.

It was so moving to watch this little creature make its way down the beach, its intrinsic instincts telling it to get to the water as fast as possible. This is something that I will never forget.
Leahb

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The heat is ON - 03:55 pm

10 Nov 2009

It is sweltering today. The kind of heat that makes you move slower, think slower, stand in front of fans and fridges and seriously consider shaving your head. I intent to spend the majority of today completely immersed in a large body of water, unfortunately the power cable for the laptop does not quite reach to the shore (which is a terrible oversight as far as I am concerned).

As you have probably deduced from our website, Earth-Touch has various field crews stationed all over sub-Saharan Africa, Thailand, etc. On a day like this though, I thank my lucky charms that I am currently part of the marine team. I would not trade in my wetsuit for all the khaki pants in the world. No sir, I am quite happy dashing off to the ocean for a dip in between ingesting footage, writing diaries, taking pictures of kingfishers, etc.


Although, having said all of that, being part of the marine team has been a challenge on many other levels. Carting around a camera housing that weighs as much a small ox is of them. Learning how to operate the second camera was difficult at first but extremely exciting as I watched myself improve. Testing my limits in the water is definitely up there too, but I have no doubt that swimming against the current has toned these legs a bit.

To be perfectly honest though, these are the kind of challenges that shape you. I feel like I am on a journey of discovery, learning about myself, my capabilities and the beautiful world that surrounds me. But my goodness, it is WARM.
LeahB

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The estuary - 01:31 pm

09 Nov 2009

We have been hearing a lot about a beautiful estuary on the opposite side of Vamizi Island, so today we piled into the landrover and headed off to see this place for ourselves. Everything here on Vamizi is so stunning that I am going to need a whole new set of adjectives pretty soon just to describe it, but this estuary really was breathtaking.

We made quick work of loading the flat-bottom skiff and heading up the channel before the tide dropped. Grant and Paulo jumped into the water, kitted up with just their fins, masks and snorkels and began to explore. The water in this estuary could not have been more than a meter deep but Grant is keen to take a cylinder on our next visit so that he can lay motionless on the bottom and just observe the unfolding behaviour.

Small fry were all over the place, it seems that these calm and sheltered waters make for exceptional nurseries. Grant also got some footage of a few uncommon Obicular cardinals, completely at ease with his presence, just swaying with the current.

Mangrove forests play such a pivotal role in the overall costal ecosystem, but we could spend months here focusing on one plant, one animal, one symbiotic relationship at a time and still not be able to tell the full story of this unique environment. I guess in a way that is what makes this type of work both challenging and extremely rewarding at the same time. One thing is certain, we will be back here soon.
Leahb

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Anyone thirsty? - 09:16 am

08 Nov 2009

Today is the first day that we have not woken up to 35 degree weather. At 28 degrees it actually feels pleasantly cool here and a few ominous, grey clouds in the sky signal that there may even be a slight chance of rain. All of these signs have got to be quite exciting for any animal that lives on an Island with no fresh water.

There seems to be a constant search for a sip of water, however small. Outside our room there is a footbath to wash off the sand before you enter the room. We get hundreds of comical hermit crabs congregating here at night to drink the fresh water that spills onto the sand.

It is almost like watching a miniature rock concert taking place. There is a mosh-pit closest to the water, some fights break out on the outskirts of the crowd, sometimes a very small coconut crab enters into the mix, then as soon as we show up with our torch, the partys over and everyone stumbles home. 

On a separate occasion, a rather large Samango monkey was having a refreshing little drink at the footbath before we both scared the life out of each other and darted our separate ways to safety. So Grant and I are both kind of hoping we do get a bit of rain, just to see what interesting behavior this abundance of fresh water might bring.
We are both starting to feel much more oriented in and around Vamizi Island and cant wait to see where the next two weeks here will lead us. Leahb

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Vamizi Island’s flagship reef - 01:37 pm

06 Nov 2009

As a newly appointed member of the Earth-Touch marine team, I have had to fast track my over all confidence in the water. I am happy to report that I have my buoyancy perfected and am descending to depths of around 30 meters with no trouble at all. This new found confidence is brilliant but now that I am heading fearlessly, I say that with only a slight dose of sarcasm, into the deeper waters I really have to get used to seeing bigger fish. By bigger fish I mean Potato bass the size of a full grown man, grey reef sharks, giant King Fish, hundreds of bump head snappers spilling over ledges like rust coloured waterfalls, the sort of animals I spent this entire morning swimming around with on Vamizi Islands flagship reef ‘Neptunes’.

The boat ride was about an hour long but for 20 minutes of it we were escorted along by a pod of bottlenose dolphins.

What I love about dolphins is that they seem as curious about us as we are about them. They swim at the bow of the boat and tilt their bodies to look up at us as we tilt our bodies over the edge of the boat to look down at them. It is quite amazing to see your own behaviour mirrored back at you by an animal so physically different, but so characteristically similar.

We kitted up and descended onto one of the most dynamic reefs I have ever seen. I am not sure how to do it justice with just words, but I can guarantee that that was not our last dive there. Grant will be bringing you footage from this reef and I am pretty sure that the images will speak more eloquently for themselves.
Leah B

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Unchartered territory - 12:26 pm

05 Nov 2009

Yesterday we went out on a boat ride with Stuart, one of the fishermen here on Vamizi Island. The boat we were on had an device that amazed me, called a chart plotter. We were keen to use this tool to get an idea of where the different reefs were, the depths of these reefs and the type of diversity we would find on them. This seemed simple enough, although four hours later we were still finding spots that would offer spectacular diving opportunities.

Vamizi Island has fifteen reefs that they frequently dive, but that is clearly just the tip of the iceberg - there is just so much undiscovered terrain here. While the boat was moving we followed on the chart plotter, traversing the bottom of the sea floor. After asking numerous daft questions I finally understood that the tiny dots above sea floor were actually fish, jelly fish, sharks, anything that bounced the sonar back up to the boat was recorded.

This entire place was just teeming with life! Viewing all of this from the top made me realize what a privilege it is to be able to dive; to share just an hour with these creatures, in their environment is so special. Life is thriving here because of conscious management and protection. This makes me so optimistic about the state of affairs because I am not in the furthest, most remote recess of the planet; I am in Northern Mozambique and loving life.
Leahb

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