Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

6AM- Up and going straightaway even though not enjoying much sleep after getting into my rack at 1:30 AM. Having not blogged on previous cruises I didn't realize how serious the impact on beddy-bye time would be. The 10th of March will be a double day because we get to live most of Tuesday all over again after flying across the International Date Line on our way back to the States. Two breakfasts, lunches, and dinners today--that's kinda strange.

OK then. A lot to do before we aquarium folks step back ashore. All that odoriferous dive kit has to be coaxed into a bag, clothes packed up, and project bits including animal ID books, reference papers, and the now important computers and external hard drives (in the old days it was all done in notebooks) get loaded strategically in our duffels and backpacks.


Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

I peer out through the porthole and see immediately that Capt John Smith and the crew have the Nai'a tied up smartly at the pier in Latouka. The huge pile (60'?!) of woodchips harvested from Fijian pine plantations is visible on the dock where it is located in close proximity for loading onto the big cargo ships that take it to Japan (we hear) for use in making paper pulp. The sweet smelling pine resin completely permeates the air, and we know even before peering outside that we're here. After 7 trips on the boat, that pine chip smell is unmistakable, and unique. I could detect it on my way down to my state room from the bridge last night even though we were still miles offshore. The scent apparently can travel on the breezes quite effectively.


Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

10 AM- The goodbyes were emotional. Even if this boat's crew puts on a great act about looking forward to the next time we aquarial folks are back, it sure feels genuine and always makes me tear up. We hugged ‘em all and said that we'd get pics to them right away. All they ever ask for is pictures. Pretty simple request. I think about what is waiting back in the States for us: good jobs, a gov't that works (… when was the last time the U.S. had a coup?!), confidence that better times are ahead. And what they likely have waiting for them: a couple of days off to spend with their families, and then back out to sea for at least another charter, an economy that is having a tougher go of it than ours.


Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

That has to be rough. As I sit here in a room at the Mocambo Resort continuing to ruminate about that, the similarities to being in the military strike me. Financial hardship, and long, continuous separation from family is something I couldn't take well at all.

We'll all head into Nadi town for our traditional farewell lunch, a quick stop at the Fijian handicrafts stalls, and then back to the Mocambo to ready luggage and gear for schlepping to the airport.

5:30 PM- Still a few minutes yet before Air Pacific opens up the check-in desk for the 11 PM flight to Los Angeles.

A bunch of us were just chatting about how great our dives were, all the fun we have when we come together, the new members of our merry band of Fijian Fishes Fanciers Federation, and when the next expedition together will be.


Some of the amazing biodiversity that relies on diving tourism to support it. Photos: Keith Ellenbogen

We then drift onto the uncomfortable topic of the apparent decrease in some numbers of critters since the last time we dove all those sites. It was touched upon one or twice during the dives, but nearly an entire day now separates us from those last dives and I suppose we are being a bit more general in our discussion. Seeing fewer sharks at Nigali Passage could be explained a number of ways, or maybe only one--fishing. Ugggh. It makes my euphoria coefficient drop a couple of points just contemplating it.

But why is it fair to expect (with the current global economic situation) Fijians to not make do by tapping into their country's riches?! Hey, if the divers and tourists stay home in Australia, Japan, and the States, these people's livelihoods start to wither. Yuck. Another complicator added to this great place's handicap-pile to keep its aquatic world one of the top on the planet.


More of the amazing biodiversity that relies on diving tourism to support it. Photos: Keith Ellenbogen

More discussion before going back back to planning our next reunion. Rendezvous and reunite in 18 months we chant! So October of 2010 it'll be. Maybe I'll even be able to get my high school senior of a son onboard. Wow.

- Bailey

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Labels: Bailey, biodiversity, diving, economics, Photos

Post by Steve Bailey

6:15AM- Another amazing sunrise. Wow.


Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

Within the hour, it'll be back into those wet and very ripe (quite amazing how funky neoprene becomes after 9 days and about 3 dozen dives) 3mm wetsuits to start our last day of dives. -sigh- All of us Aquarium Folks are trying hard not to think about work-esque things, and dwelling as long as possible on things Fijian, aquatic and soaking in every bit of this 82dF H2O and sweet smelling air. Nothing, absolutely nothing smells like the tropics.

A Nai'a crew member mentioned to one of our gang last night that when we are onboard it isn't like working for them. Geez. When I heard that I got all misty-eyed. Seriously. I'm comfortable enough with my manliness to admit that I love these guys. The high grades for these bi-coastal aquarium voyages in Fijian waters is 50% what we see and do, and 50% the incredibly genuine staff that makes this boat so unique. It's an honor that they feel that way about us.


group photo: Keith Ellenbogen

The day's first dive is Mt. Mutiny, a seamount rising up from 3000' to within 5' of the surface, no larger at the crest than a football field, and named with the ubiquitous Captain William Bligh in mind. Bligh managed to chart this seamount while heading to East Timor in his launch overfilled with loyal crew (very short on food and water), being chased by Fijian war canoes, with nearly 2000 miles under his keel after Fletcher Christian set him adrift, and another 2000 to go. Amazing. Talk about a multi-tasker.

'To-dos' for this dive include getting a new coral 20 meter transect mapped out near the reef crest to replace the multi-year study abandoned (due to persistently strong currents) on the Go Mo site. Dr. Webster, Keith Ellenbogen, and I will drape the marked surveyor's tape over the coral starting at 7' and ending at 55', in preparation for videotaping on the next dive. The pitch of this transect will be nearly 60 degrees! After all, this bathymetric feature falls quickly away to 3000,' and the length of our study is determined by the cliff. Beyond that edge, it'll be nothingness, only the indigo color of deep water and something resembling acrophobia (fear of heights- is that possible in water?!) for anyone hovering at the tape's end.


Photo: Mark Rosenstein

The rest of the gang is headed to 110' where silvertip sharks (Carcharinus albamarinatus) have on occasion been seen. Not a high probability exercise, but all feel it is worth using up valuable bottom time to head down there. It's a classic wall dive, and those not doing the day's more mundane science are really itching to get into the skiffs, therefore skipping 1st Breakfast.

1PM- Another terrific lunch; which is both a good thing, and a bad thing. Getting back to Boston means the start of caloric austerity for weeks to come.

The morning's dives hit on all cylinders. The 'deep-crew' saw 2 silvertips at 107' and Mark Rosenstein managed to snap a decent photo even though he had his macro lens on his camera for taking pictures of tiny critters. I'm very envious of them all.



Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

We succeeded on the transect as well (photo above). Both John Larkin and Keith swam four legs up and down that line slowly videotaping the abundant coral growth. It made my ears hurt just watching them. At this point of the expedition, my middle ears have required serious molly-coddling after every dive to keep me eligible for the next one.


Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

The transect footage will be analyzed once we get back to the States for percent cover of coral and the number of species. This same exercise will be done each time we revisit Mt Mutiny because repeatedly filming and analyzing this pristine stretch of coral will clue us into environmental change. Here's to hoping Doc Webster sees no change when he visits later this year!


Photo: Keith Ellenbogen

9PM- The gang just finished an expertly prepared meal of wahoo (freshly caught at 5 PM off the Nai'a 's stern) and rice by Chefs Penni and Ben. Immediately on its heels were Graham Connor's 71st Birthday Celebration (replete with a Fijian version of Happy Birthday sung expertly by the Crew), our last 'Diver of the Day Awards,' and the traditional end-of-expedition slide show. Everyone was pretty shaken up by the combination of our time here ending tomorrow, and the powerful images that we all captured during our expedition.

The days spent on this boat pass by at lightning speed. It's unfathomable that tomorrow we'll be listening to 'Mo and the UndeNai'ables' sing Isalei, the traditional Fijan farewell song. There won't be a dry eye amongst us.

-Bailey

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Labels: Bailey, coral, coral transect, crew, group photo, Photos, reef shark, wahoo

Post by Steve Bailey

6 AM During the night aboard Nai'a, while the team was in the arms of Morpheus, we've sailed east into Bligh Waters (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) to the island of Vatu-I-Ra. We awake to a calm sea, a majestic South Pacific sunrise, and Chef Penie sending incredible smells wafting from the galley.

A full day of diving lies ahead that includes visits to favorite sites: Charlie's Garden, Mellow Yellow, and The Whole Shebang. It'll be an initiation of sorts for the newest members of our gang and a reunion for those of us who've explored these sites on four prior expeditions. Also in our sights is to dive on an amazing undersea pinnacle called Go Mo (named after Nai'a's long serving Bosun & Divemaster Ratu Mosese Tuivuna) to continue our work on coral transects. The last two trips powerful currents sweeping around this dive site have blown our dive teams off the pinnacle and prevented our goals from being met.

11:30AM We enjoyed two, terrific dives this morning. The mind-blowing abundance of fishes was just as we remember it, and the surface water temperature was 83 degrees Fahrenheit--a tropical gift for many of us who left the snow and ice behind in Boston! After donning our dive kits and rolling off the skiffs, we drifted down current right to our study sites and settled into the protected lee of towering coral formations. Those currents play a critical role in having the stunning multicolored, Fijian soft corals blown up like 'Michelen Men,' pumped full of water to maximize their ability to filter-feed. The clicks of underwater camera shutters started immediately, and our recording slates and pencils commenced scribbling.

6:30 PM Instead of suiting up for a 5th dive, 11 of us decided to visit Vatu-I-Ra island to observe nesting seabirds. Fortunately, the Fijian government has conserved the island so that terns, boobies, noddies, and frigate birds can make future generations unmolested. Even some distance off this isolated place, the sight, sound (not to mention the smell!), of more than 10,000 winged guano machines was overwhelming.

After landing on the beach, and just steps from the water's edge, we observed an enormous number of nests with chicks in virtually every tree and shrub, every rocky ledge, anywhere really that would accommodate a nest. The spectacle made us wonder how airborne parents could find room to land, let alone, recognize their offspring.

Disturbingly, we soon were very aware of a wagon-load of plastic debris that had apparently washed ashore during recent storms. With this group, however, there was no need to mention what was necessary. Our divers-turned-birdwatchers had in quick order collected a small mountain of rubbish, whipped it all into bags, and loaded the skiffs for ferrying it all back to Nai'a for proper disposal. Now all that caught our eye as we walked the beach were the hermit and Sally lightfoot crab tracks, made even more pronounced by the slanting rays of Fijian sunset.

-Bailey

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Labels: Bailey, Fiji, Photos

Post by Steve Bailey



5:15 AM The humid fragrant Fijian air hits this weary band of divers, now emerging from Air Pacific's 747 Island of Vanua Levu. The simple beauty of the rising sun silhouetting distant volcanic peaks helps us forget about the not-so-restful, 11-hour, overnight flight from Los Angeles. Ahhhh, we're back in paradise.

Those of us who've been on Monterey Bay Aquarium/New England Aquarium Fiji Expeditions on four previous occasions now feel the excitement building. Soon we'll be boarding our impressively outfitted and capable home for 10 days, the 124-foot motorsailer Nai'a. Old, reacquainted friends explain to the 'Fiji freshmen' that within eight hours they will be diving on some of the finest reefs in the world.



The freshmen will be diving with people dedicated a diversity of projects and interests. On this trip, aquarium marine biologists, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Dr. Steve Webster and New England Aquarium Curator of Fishes Steve Bailey, are assessing reef health, tracking changes to diversity and abundance, and as always, having an eye peeled for new species of critters. Keith Ellenbogen, Parsons School of Design photography professor, will be connecting his students back home in New York with the biology and art of Fijian reefs through innovative video/photographic approaches to interpreting life in this incredible habitat.

New subsurface gear will receive important field-testing by Senior Engineer John Larkin of Light & Motion, a California based manufacturer of underwater lighting and camera equipment. Past participants have included scientists such as noted reef fishes expert Dr. G.R. Allen of Conservation International and New England Aquarium Vice President of Global Marine Programs Dr. Greg Stone, as well as proficient filmmakers, photographers, authors and artists.



How do we attract people to these cruises? For one thing, we relentlessly sing the praises of this archipelago's astonishing, aquatic diversity. Our mission is to entice people who can help conserve Fijian waters, mainly by spending their diving dollars in Fiji while observing, learning, and sharing their experiences with others.

10:00 PM A marathonesque but productive and rewarding day is drawing to a close. Most have long since retired to their staterooms and are preparing for a full day tomorrow of exploring the reefs.

-Bailey

Labels: Bailey, Fiji, landing, Photos

The Joint Aquarium Fiji Expedition combines the best fish minds from the New England Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Expedition members build working relationships with the people of Fiji and explore the complex biodiversity of the area.

Keith Ellenbogen, a member of the 2008 expedition took these amazing photographs of marine life. Part of the mission of the expedition is to build support with Fijians and people around the world to protect these ecosystems.




The 2008 expedition included participants from the New England Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The New England Aquarium's Curator of Fishes, Steve Bailey (Bailey), is a point person for this expedition, which has included many participants in the past: VP of Global Marine Programs Greg Stone, Senior Marine Biologist Steve Webster of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, New England Aquarium Board Members and long-time supporters Alan Dynner and Sandy Prescott and Dr. Gerry Allen, a revered marine biologist at Conservatin International. Here are some photos of those participants.




Some village chiefs in Fiji are attemptng to clearly establish a value for their culture that ensures long-term success of the tribe and village, as well as conservation of local resources. Members of the Joint Aquarium Fiji Expedition meet with villagers in Fiji in the burre, or community hall. These photos were taken during visits to villages:



Bookmark this page to stay connected to updates from the field from Bailey. The dives start this Friday, February 27.

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Labels: Alan Dynner, Bailey, Gerry Allen, Greg Stone, initial post, Photos, Slideshows, Steve Webster