Filling Tanks

With all the diving that goes on down here, filling tanks is always a job that needs doing. Recently I had the SFS Dive Safety Officer train me in how to use the compressor so that I can help fill them too. That's what I spent a few hours doing this afternoon.

Filling Tanks

Filled Tanks

There's not much involved, really - just switching out tanks when they've filled and purging condensation that builds up in compressor. I figure (as a diver) its a good skill to know, and besides I need to earn my keep around here. In between switching tanks I was also working on some of the final edits for my article. I should have another draft complete soon, and hopefully the review process will go quickly.

Being Studious

This evening I went out on a dive and emptied one of those newly filled tanks. And, believe it or not, I saw another juvenile Smooth Trunkfish! I'm starting to wonder if they have a breeding season and now just happens to be when juveniles are abundant. I hope so. Jessee gets back tomorrow (granted she is able to make the connection in Provo), and she'll be thrilled if we can go find one.

Juvenile Smooth Trunkfish

This evening I saw something that made Jessee extremely envious: a juvenile Smooth Trunkfish. It's a tiny black and yellow-spotted fish about the size and shape of a pea! It's about the cutest dang thing that's ever been in the ocean. I had to call Jessee as soon as I could to tell her.

Juvenile Smooth Trunkfish

I made her guess what I'd seen. The conversation went something like this:

B: Guess what I saw!!
J: Oh my god, a Tiger Shark?!
B: Nope. Smaller.
J: Okay good. Give me a hint.
B: It's something you've always wanted to see.
J: A Kangaroo?
B: No. I don't think they swim.
J: Okay, give me another hint.
B: It's vastly smaller than a Tiger Shark - you could say, pea-sized.
J: You didn't! Awwww! I'm so jealous!
B: I did!
J: Awwww! ...uh, I have to go. I'm in a restaurant and I'm making a scene.

The juvenile Smooth Trunkfish barely have fins. They just sort of float around. We were able to scoot it out of its little hole and cup it in our hands for a close look. Its little mouth sticks out with little puckered fish lips. Smooth Trunkfish, odd-looking things themselves, are relatively common, but the juveniles are much less so and quite difficult to find, being that they are so small and probably spend most of their time hiding.

Adult Smooth Trunkfish

Video of Smooth Trunkfish

Manta Touring

This morning I did what is called "Manta Touring." Not, unfortunately, to see Manta Rays - they are uncommon in this area. Manta Touring is just the name they've given to this activity. Basically you get pulled around by a boat with your face in the water. Sort of like water skiing, except you start with your face in the water rather than end up there. The idea being that you can cover a lot of ground (err, water) and also keep up with some of the faster critters.

Setting up.

We were inspired to do it today because of the near glass-calm water. There's a newly formed tropical storm named Danny in the Atlantic (about 200 miles East of us), and from what I can tell from the satellite images, the southern end of it is countering the wind we normally get. We're expecting that to change as the storm moves over the Bahamas.

Touring

Anyhow, Manta Touring was fun. We didn't see as much as we hoped - really just a couple large Triggerfish (one Queen Triggerfish and one Ocean Triggerfish), and a few Barracudas that curiously (and ominously) come up to check you out. Because of that I felt a little bit like bait. As if I was being pulled around to lure some large creature up from the deep. This was especially the case when we went out over "The Blue" - the area where it's so deep you can see nothing but a deep blue color.

"The Blue"

Friendly Gecko

My company while Jessee is away.

Ransom

When I woke up this morning, it seemed unusually quiet. I was up a little early, so I didn't think much of it. But after about 45 minutes, I found out that it wasn't because everybody was sleeping in, but rather because they were out in search of a lost boat. The new moon brought unusually high tides in the recent days and, apparently, it caused our "rescue boat" to break free from its mooring last night. This was especially bad because it's the nicest of all the boats and worth something like $22,000 (the other three boats, only one of which is running at the moment, aren't worth one-tenth that).

Unlike the last time I was involved in a "lost boat" situation, I was in no way responsible for this incident. I could, however, sympathize for the others and was concerned that we were down to one functioning boat for a program entirely dependent on access to the water.

By the time I had figured out anything was going on, the first search party had already returned. They had searched a large area in the direction of the prevailing wind and current and even walked through a large tide flat for quite a distance only to find the shell of an old wreck. They returned empty handed. They had also attempted to request assistance from some of the fishermen that are friendly with SFS, but they had already left for the day.

After a short while, Will and I decided to go out and search a little more. We checked at the public dock first, hoping that somebody might have brought it back, but there was nothing. With Will driving I scanned the bay with binoculars (which is incredibly ineffective when the boat is shaking you all around). Not long had passed, however, when we spotted a fisherman towing our lost boat! We adjusted our course to meet up with them and decided we'd offer to give them our extra fuel for their trouble.

In hindsight, it's funny that we made this offer of fuel because the two fishermen demanded far greater compensation. They claimed, according to British Common Law, that they owned 1/3 of the recovered vessel and informed us that they wanted $5000 for it. We'd never heard of this law, but Will did know that some arcane "Laws of the Sea" that still existed (for instance, if you are in need of assistance at sea and you accept the bow line of another vessel, they have the right to ownership of your boat, but if you give them your bow line, then you retain ownership). Anyhow, they refused to hand the boat over to us there and towed it to the dock, where they planned to hold it for ransom.

At this point I decided to become only an observer, though I amused myself by contemplating a pirate-like attack to free our boat (in my imagination I was jumping from our speeding boat with a knife in my mouth and a parrot on my shoulder). Instead, Will contacted the center director who agreed to meet us at the dock to deal with the situation (slightly less dramatic). For the sake of brevity let's say the negotiations took up most of the day, but finally resulted in a payment of $700 for their trouble and lost day of fishing. The fishermen weren't happy about this, but it turns out that TCI does have a law about recovered vessels and it states that "reasonable compensation" is due in situations such as this. Fortunately for SFS, most of the other fisherman and bystanders who had gathered around and, more importantly, the police thought that $5000 was not "reasonable."

The recovered boat.

$700 even seems a bit steep, if you ask me. It was a sensitive situation though. SFS needs to maintain positive relations with the fishermen (if not for the sake of community, for the fact that the boat could easily be vandalized by unhappy neighbors). Some here at SFS were, understandably, upset that the two fishermen expected payment for retrieving the boat. We intended to compensate them for their trouble and time from the beginning, but their exploitation of the situation was not justified. On numerous occasions in the past SFS staff and boats have been involved in assisting stranded or broken down boats of locals, and some here felt the same courtesy should be extended in our direction. I think, however, this is problem for all people or institutions that are viewed as "outsiders" to a community. Especially when that outsider is believed to have considerable wealth (which is actually not the case for SFS - there is considerable debt, not an endless budget). As I've mentioned before, I feel like we're largely separated from the South Caicos community. We do outreach (i.e. swimming lessons) on Saturdays when school is in session, but that doesn't feel like a very meaningful connection to me. I wish we did more to integrate, but not being very extroverted, I'm not the best person to make that happen. At the same time, I felt slightly more connected to some local people who came to our defense and argued in our favor.

Turtle Research

There's an ongoing sea turtle research project here on South Caicos. Two researchers have been studying the effects of turtle harvesting (which is legal here), and SFS has been involved for years. Today I got to join them "on the hunt."

A small Hawksbill.

We went out with two boats, first to Admiral's Aquarium and the surrounding area, then to Shark Alley. Nine of us got into the water and fanned out in search of turtles, while the 10th person drove around in one of the boats facilitating communication between us and shuttled people to where there was a sighting. We had very good visibility today (probably around 200 feet or more) and we had timed it for minimal currents, so conditions were favorable.

It took quite a while before the first sighting, however. Will spotted a considerably large Green Turtle and we all started to chase after. The strategy is to tire it out by taking turns and by using the boat and, when it's slowed down enough, dive down and grab it by the carapace behind its head and in front of its tail. You can't just reach out and pick it up, though, it requires a really sudden snatch to actually get a hold of it. Green Turtles are bigger and have significantly higher endurance (I was told), so they tend to be harder to catch. And this one managed to get away. In fact, I never even saw it.

In trying to locate it, however, I spotted a small Hawksbill and called over for assistance. I followed it for a few minutes, but eventually lost it. I found out just after that, that nobody had come to help because they were on the trail of a second small Hawksbill! Just as I arrived on the scene, I saw John (probably the strongest swimmer of all of us) dive down and press the young turtle to the seafloor. He then grabbed onto it by the sides of its shell and brought it, struggling, to the surface. Hawksbills, I am told, tire significantly more quickly.

Hawksbill

We got it in the boat and started taking data immediately, so as to minimize stress to the animal. He flapped his flippers quite a bit when he was being handled, but seemed calm when sitting undisturbed. We took several standard measurements of the carapace, tail, and head; a genetic sample of flesh (the snip didn't seem to hurt it one bit); a blood sample (using the same type of needle you'd use on a person); and a shell sample. We then scanned it for an implanted microchip tag (the same sort they use on dogs these days), implanted a microchip tag (because our scan didn't find one), attached two of the old-fashioned external fin tags, and weighed it. I felt bad about all the stress and pain we were causing it, but I tried to convince myself that it was for the good the entire turtle population.

Measuring straight carapace width.

A turtle's-eye view.

Hawksbills have narrow heads and pointy beaks like a hawk.

Implanting the microchip.

Attaching the flipper tag.

Posing prior to release. You can actually feel the shell expand and contract as it breaths!

Almost home.

Freedom!

Since we had finished more quickly than we had expected, we decided to have a quick look at Shark Alley to see if we could get a second turtle. A few of us jumped in at the point with the plan to swim back towards the mooring, where the boats would be. Shortly after getting in we spotted an Eagle Ray (as we often do at Shark Alley). We followed it to make observations and get photographs for another ongoing research project. Just a few seconds later I saw another one, and called over to the others that there were two. I was wrong. It was actually 4 more! I could hardly believe it. The first one joined up with them, and they all swam over a large coral outcropping. We followed excitedly and were blown away to see 3 more! They all joined up, forming a school of 8 Eagle Rays!!! I remembered reading in our ID book that they occasionally pair (which we often see) and on rare occasions, school.

Swarm of Eagle Rays

It was fantastic to see. And, because of their numbers, they were much less afraid of us. Usually they are wary of people and are frightened off by the vigorous kicking of snorkel fins that is required to keep up with them. But now we were able to follow them quite closely, and did so for probably 10 minutes. They are one of the most graceful and beautiful animals we see here. Slowly they broke off and went in different directions (alone and in pairs), but they all stayed in the same general area, circling as they often do, so we got to watch them for quite a long time. One of the larger ones, I noticed, had an injured wing. It curled at the end (3 or 4 inches) and appeared to be shriveled. It didn't seem to be bothered by it, so hopefully it will recover. We also saw a small Caribbean Reef Shark in the mix, which on any ordinary day might warrant a more detailed description here.

Another shot of all 8 of them.

In all the excitement and commotion caused by the Eagle Rays, I didn't even notice that John had nabbed his second turtle of the day! The big Green we were chasing before - Will was able to identify it by the tag it had on its back left flipper. This was my first close look at a Green Turtle. I didn't expect its shell to be so brilliant, an olive green color with streaks of light and dark. Hawksbills are the ones famous for their impressive shell (the reason they are the most endangered worldwide). We were all feeling a bit worn out and hungry, so we collected the data and samples and released her as quickly as we could.

Old tag from a previous capture.

Green Turtles are much bigger, up to 200kg. This one was about 20kg.

What a beautiful green shell.

Green Turtles suffer from a virus that causes cancer. The growths in the upper right of this photo might have been small tumors.

Using the sensor to detect a microchip.

Measuring curved carapace length.

The Green Turtle was much calmer.

Notice the algae growing around its neck.

Soon to be released.

Night Snorkel

With Jessee out of town, I'm holding down the fort as the only American at the Center (and possibly on the whole island). Last night I went out on a night snorkel with two French Canadians, one Englishman, three Italians, and a French woman. This after a long day in the water with three other Britons.

The night snorkel was the most eventful. Such different things come out at night. As when night diving, we used high-powered underwater flashlights to see and left a strobe on the boat to find our way back. A brief list of the marine life I saw includes: a sleeping Hawksbill Turtle, a small Green Turtle (which had previously been tagged and which we caught to ID), a couple Beaded Sea Cucumbers (a nocturnal species of Cucumber), a spikey egg-shaped snail-type-thing called a Cowrie, something called blood worms that were attracted to my light and swarmed around me (yuck!), a large shrimp (possibly a Red Night Shrimp), a few crabs (Channel Crab, Hairy Clinging Crab?, Blue Crab), a Queen Parrotfish sleeping in its protective saliva cocoon, a couple Giant Basket Stars, a Feather Duster Worm, and a Spotted Moray Eel. Add five Sting Rays, two Eagle Rays, and two more Hawksbill Turtles to the list if you include what I saw during the day.

Parrotfish Sleeping in Saliva Cocoon

I got to hold and release the Green Turtle. It was impressively strong once it got its fins back in the water and impressively agile as it swam quickly through the crowd of snorkelers that had gathered to see it. Green Turtles are less common here while Hawksbills seem to be especially abundant, even though they are one of the most endangered worldwide.

I didn't know what a Cowrie was, but when I spotted one, somebody explained it to me. They are similar to the "Flamingo Tongue," I described in an earlier post. They're a mollusk that has a hard shell and fleshy mantle that it can extend over it. The picture below shows the mantle partially extended. The one I saw had it fully extended. The second picture shows a Cowrie shell, which might look familiar. Cowrie shells are apparently often used in beach jewelry. The one I saw, however, was about 5 inches across.

Cowrie with mantle partially extended.

Cowrie Shells

We also saw 3 or 4 small Spiny Lobsters. They are nocternal so we expected to see some, but Marta (who has been here for more than 4 years) said it was quite unusual to see so few. This echoes with what the fisherman have been saying, that this year's catch has been unusually low. Perhaps it's a normal fluctuation, but more likely, they have been overfished in recent years.

Giant Basket Star

One of the large crabs we saw had a flap extended on its underside with, what looked like, gills exposed. It seemed to be filtering water through. Maybe it was feeding. I'm not sure. The Beaded Sea Cucumber was the first of its kind that I've seen. My ID book says that they hide under coral slabs and rubble during the day, but often come out in the open at night. The Giant Basket Star was another interesting find. They too hide during the day, "coil[ing] into a tight ball ... and hid[ing] in dark recesses." They open up at night forming a large "fan-shaped plankton net." I might have mistaken it for a Gorgonian (a type of soft coral), if I hadn't gone down to take a close look. I had a close run-in with (what I think was) the Red Night Shrimp. It was attracted to, then confused, by my light. It nearly colided with my head at one point. The parrotfish had built what one of the others called a "saliva cocoon," which supposedly protects it from something while it sleeps. I didn't know they did this, but I had seen remnants of the gooey mass they create during and not known exactly what it came from.

Mangroves and SCUBA News

Yesterday we went out in the boat with Marta, the SFS-TCI Research Associate, and two of her friends who are visiting from Italy. We explored an area off the coast by the SC airport, where there is actually a plane that crashed into the water a few decades ago. It was low tide when we were there so the plane was almost completely visible. This spot, however, is not to be confused with one of our dive sites, known as "The Plane", where a different island-hopper went down several years ago and lies about 60 feet below the surface near the SFS center.


While we were out by the plane (not The Plane) we visited the nearby mangroves and saw a handful of baby lemon sharks feeding in the seagrass beneath them. Until hurricane Ike hit South Caicos last year, Marta had been researching lemon sharks, and she gave us a great lecture on how they breed and what they eat, and when they travel from one area to another. After a short walk through the mangroves, we got back into the boat to continue on our tour only to discover that the boat battery had died. So... we called for a tow (which isn't as easy during the intersession break as it might have been during the semester when there are more people around and a staff person is assigned to radio duty), broke out the apples, oranges, water, and sunscreen we brought with us, and kicked back in the boat to wait. We eventually did get a tow and made it back to the center a few hours later, tanned and tired, but safe and happy to have been rescued!

On a sidenote, I'm always a little slower to post my blog entries than Brett is, but I have some exciting "diving news" as well. On Monday I completed my open water course, and am now a certified diver! (Not an Advanced Diver or a Deep Diver, yet anyway, but a diver nonetheless.) And on my very first certified dive to a site called "Troy's Dream" on Monday, I saw a spiny lobster, a few 4-eyed butterfly fish, about 5 or 6 pederson cleaner shrimp, what I think was a spotted trunkfish, a gigantic channel clinging crab, and 2 sharp-nosed puffers (my favorite!). And of course a ton of other beautiful fish and interesting creatures that didn't make the cut this time to be individually named.

I may not be writing for a little while after this post. Tomorrow I leave for SFS headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts where I'll go through an 80-hour Wilderness First Responder first aid course. I've been through the course once already, but my certification expired a few months ago. Fortunately, Salem is close to Boston and so I'll get to spend my (very limited) time off with my sister, who lives there, and then my parents who are driving up from Philly at the end of the week. Civilization, here I come!

Deep Diver

Yesterday, I completed my "Deep Diver" specialty course. I can now dive to the recreational limit of 132 feet. The course required a knowledge review and three instructor-supervised dives to 132 feet. There are a lot of special considerations when diving to a depth like that. First is the pressure. At that depth, ambient pressure is 5 times the surface pressure. Your body is mostly unaffected by this because it's almost entirely water, but if you don't equalize pressure in air spaces (ears, sinuses, mask) there can be problems. That's not really any different than shallower diving, you just have to do it more as you descend deeper.

Second, as a result of increased pressure, your air consumption is much greater. The air you breathe is also 5 times as dense, so you use it 5 times as quickly than you would at the surface. For somebody like me, who has big lungs, you need to monitor your air supply carefully. Third, because the air you breathe is do dense, your body absorbs nitrogen far more quickly. You have to "offgas" that nitrogen before returning to a lower pressure environment or you risk forming nitrogen bubbles in your bloodstream - known as "the bends." As a result, the amount of time you can spend at depth is limited. The time you can spend down there is known as your "no decompression time," the amount of time you have at a certain depth without needing to make a mandatory decompression stop on your ascent. Today, no decompression time is calculated using a dive computer that you carry with you.

Finally, you have to be aware of nitrogen narcosis. When your body becomes saturated with nitrogen it can have disorienting effects. The nitrogen interferes with your body's processes, causing delayed response time, overconfidence, mild tunnel vision, and idea fixation. Really, I just felt a little tingling sensation. It's completely harmless, and the effects disappear when you ascend even a little bit. It can happen to some people as shallow as 100 feet, but I didn't feel anything above 125.

Technical aspects aside, there's a whole different world just a little bit deeper. Some of the more interesting corals and sponges only grow at greater depths. Certain species of fish and crustaceans only live in deep water. There were a couple ledges with a type of algae that looked a lot like terrestrial vegetation and a type of sponge that looked like giant fungus that would grow out of a decaying tree. It could have been a landscape that you'd see in the Olympic rainforests of Washington, if it hadn't been nearly 40 meters underwater.

For me, though, deep diving isn't something I'll probably spend much time doing. I'm glad I'm able to, but that amount of time you can spend down there is so little (due to increased air consumption and no-decompression limits) that it's just not worth it. I'm content diving to shallower depths, where you can stay longer with fewer complications.

Storm Update

I guess when I post ominous information about storm forecasts and don't update them frequently people get a little worried about what's going on. I'm following them closely, but I probably won't write about them that often unless they really concern us. Nobody (including me) wants to read a blog of information transcribed from the Weather Service. You can always check the National Hurricane Center website for current information, though: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo_atl.shtml.

The update: Bill is now a Category II hurricane and gaining strength. The forecast says "BILL COULD BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE WITHIN THE NEXT DAY OR SO." The predicted track has a sharp turn north and should miss us entirely. The storm is moving very slowly, however, and this far out is way too soon to count on that prediction. I said I wouldn't mind experiencing a mild storm while we're here - Bill is not it.

Bill

Ana has more or less dissipated, and it's not expected to reorganize. A remnant low pressure zone was left behind, and we got some of the weather associated with it last night. Oh boy, did we get a lightning storm last night! It was exciting at first, but it went on so long that I was a bit annoyed at how hard it was to get back to sleep. We don't get lighting out in Washington. There's a lot of rain, but almost never lightning. I remember, after living there for a few years, a few of us heard a little rumble in the distance. We all looked at each other, a little confused, thinking the same thing, "was that thunder?"

Then there was Tropical Storm Claudette, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over the mainland US. It dissipated quickly and wasn't a major storm.

Suspension

Sometimes I feel like the SFS Center is somewhat insulated from the South Caicos and wider TCI community. We have everything we need here (apart from ice cream and chocolate), and our attention is focused out towards the water rather than in towards town. Just last night there was some sort of festivities going on in town and we had no idea until too late. But now I really feel disconnected. Last night before bed, Jessee came across an article in Reuters that explained that, as of Friday, Britain has suspended the Turks and Caicos government! Read it here: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLE64144220090814.

How did that happen without us hearing more about it?! I had read about some unrest in a local newspaper - there were anti-government protests on Grand Turk and Provo a while back - and had laughed about photos of TCI citizens carrying placards asking the British Parliament to oust their government. The British staffers here were amused saying, "I don't suppose there are many other places in the world that would care to see the return of the Empire." But I didn't think it was really going to happen!

The reason given for the takeover was "widespread corruption." Or, in the colorful language of one British official, "clear signs of political amorality and general administrative incompetence" (Reuters 2009). This suspension of government could last as long as two years. It doesn't appear that this will directly affect us, but I know the workers at the High Point development were concerned. The success of the resort they're building depends on serious improvements to the South Caicos airport, a project that apparently had secured government funding until now. About half of the workers at High Point were sent home months ago and development was slowed because of this uncertainty. Who knows, maybe the airport project was one of the backroom deals that led to this takeover. The Reuters article quotes the director of the TCI Finance Services Commission (TCI apparently is a center for offshore finance: read "tax evasion") as stating that the corruption probe focused on tourism and real estate activities. Of course, I'm not quick to trust anything coming from a guy whose job it is to foster an industry where millionaires and corporations can hide their money from taxation.

A second article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/16/whitehall-takes-over-turks-caicos), which I've found just now, gives some insight into the positive light in which some islanders see this takeover. And it also cites questionable relationships between TCI politicians and foreign developers.

Bill and Ana

There's a lot of storm activity out there. We have our second named storm of the season: Bill. There's also a concentrated surface low pressure zone (now Depression #4) in the Gulf of Mexico that has potential of developing. Ana has changed track slightly and is now expected to pass just south of us. Ana will hit the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as a Tropical Storm (sustained winds <73), and likely continue over Hispaniola and Cuba.

Ana

Bill is moving a bit slower, which means two things: it's track could change quite a lot by the time it gets in our neighborhood, and it has more time to gain strength over the ocean. Bill is expected to be the first hurricane of the season, becoming a Category I storm by Tuesday.

Bill

Quiet Afternoon at Horse Cay

It's been so quiet here since the students left, aside from all the hum about Tropical Storm "Ana". I wouldn't have expected this, but it actually feels a little lonely. I was really looking forward to the break, and I'm relieved to have time to get some of the chores and tasks that I've been putting off (laundry, cleaning, sorting papers, prepping for the Fall semester) finally done, but having this extra free time also makes me miss my friends and family back home.

"The Conch Wall", where the students like to sit and enjoy the scenery

I was fairly warned and fully prepared to be living and working closely with a small handful of people on a tiny remote island in the middle of nowhere (so to speak). I also knew full well that I wouldn't have access to much in the way of the community activities or clubs (like frisbee!), or shopping, or music, arts, movies, and other cultural events that I'm accustomed to in the States. And as much as I enjoyed those things when I had them, I really don't spend much time now at all missing them. The only thing I truly miss, which I hadn't even realized until this past group of students left and I had time to catch my breath and collect my thoughts, is being around people who really get me.

I have a positive working relationship and a good deal of respect for all of the staffers here at SFS-TCI, but none of them know me well enough to make fun of my quirky traits and to take the banter I dish out in the same vein. I miss the people with whom conversations can be about nothing or about the most important things in life, but either way they don't require effort or censorship, or involve any fear of judgement. I miss the people who make me laugh until I'm wheezing, and who constantly challenge me to be a more conscientious, informed, and compassionate person. The good news is that I do have one of these people on the island with me, and (although he stubbornly refuses to scrub the toilet) his company makes being away from the other people I love much more manageable.

Yesterday, Brett and I combined one of our SFS "intersession tasks" with a little snorkeling excursion. We drove the pickup truck (which has 5 new tires on it now!) out to High Point, where we picked up two posts that we'll use to set up a volleyball court at our center. The guys there even welded hooks onto the posts so that we can attach the net to them at the right height. There are about 50 guys who work at High Point, most of whom are from the Kerala region of India. They have a volleyball court of their own that they play on every single day, and every so often we drive the SFS van full of students out to High Point to join in. Yesterday, some of the guys told us they're glad we're setting up our own court so that we can practice on it and then come back to High Point with the Fall semester students and provide some actual competition! (It's true that we're not even close to playing at their level, but come on! They practice every single day! At least they're nice to us when we show up, and seem to enjoy the chance to play with a few new faces, even if the level of competition suffers.)

One of the post holes that Brett dug

Our soon-to-be volleyball court

After picking up the posts, we parked the truck just off the dirt road that leads to High Point, and snorkeled out to a tiny little island in the middle of Bell Sound called Horse Cay. Supposedly it's called that because there are lots of seahorses around the cay, but we didn't see a single one. The water was beautiful though, and so clear with just a hint of turquoise. It was extremely shallow the whole way too, so after lounging on the cay for a little while we decided just to wade back instead of swim, and to carry our masks and fins. It was quite a long walk, and my feet and legs are a little sore today just from having to balance myself in the sand and waves up to my waist, but it was a really nice little adventure for something different. It's good to know there are still so many little corners and crevices of the island that we have yet to explore!

Ana

Satellite image of Tropical Storm Ana.

We have our first named storm of the season: Tropical Storm Ana. "Tropical Depression #2" strengthened, formed a circulation, and was upgraded overnight . I check the hurricane outlook daily. Until now I've mostly been reading the line "No tropical cyclone activity is expected in the next 48 hours." To which Jessee normally replies, "don't sound so disappointed!"

This storm has been out there for quite a while. It formed near the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa, gained a little strength, weakened, and ultimately gained strength again last night to become the season's first named storm. Currently the maximum sustained winds are 40 mph with gusts higher than that. The forecast predicts that it could hit the Leeward Islands on Monday, and possibly us on Tuesday! But error in the predicted track can be as much as 300 nautical miles for forecasts this far out.

To follow the progress of the storm you can visit the National Hurricane Center's website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Hammerhead!!!

I saw a Hammerhead Shark on a dive yesterday evening!! They are quite rare in this area (our ID book lists them as "uncommon" and they're listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union). There are only a handful of sightings by SFS people each year. Two of us saw this one at a dive site called The Grotto, which is beautiful reef made up of giant coral heads. The dive was just before sunset which, I am told, is prime shark feeding time. And the sharks were certainly active - we saw somewhere in the range of 8 to 10 (I lost count) Caribbean Reef Sharks in addition. As we passed alongside two large coral heads, we looked left between them and saw the unmistakable outline of a Hammerhead.


It was very exciting! The staff here talks a lot about the rarer species like Hammerheads, Bull Sharks, and Tiger Sharks, and you're the envy of everybody when you spot one. The Hammerhead we saw was completely uninterested in us (it may not have even noticed us), and we only saw it for a few brief seconds. It was traveling in the opposite direction and we didn't follow. Despite being confident that it wasn't going to harm us, it's not the sort of animal I'd go chasing after. It was easily recognizable by its odd shaped head (of course), but also from its very tall, triangular shaped dorsal fin.


The first thing I thought, as my excitement level shot through the roof was, "okay, breath slowly." Which is good because often times when that happens while diving you suck down a lot of air and have to turn back soon after. There's a bit more of an intimidation factor with a species like this because of its size - this Hammerhead was nearly twice the size of most of the Reef Sharks. But there's really not the need to be terrified like people think you should. For the most part, sharks are completely uninterested in humans. We're not exactly their favorite food and we're too big besides - one shark (even a Hammerhead) couldn't eat us as single meal.


Though the Hammerhead didn't look at us (so far as we know), it may well have known we were there. They have a sort of "sixth sense." That's why their heads are shaped that way (actually, all sharks have this sense, but it's better developed in Hammerheads). They pick up small electromagnetic signals, which (I gather) are created by all living things. Their heads act sort of like a metal detector for food! They're such an incredible animal. My next desire is to see a Tiger Shark, which can get to be 24 feet long!