WK 4: Oh, hello there, Gravity

Anse Major, Mahe, Seychelles

Buoyed by the previous weekend's snorkel adventure, I was keen on tackling a terrestrial challenge this past Sunday. Though the adventure took an acute deviation from my original plans, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Even so, I was ever-so-slightly deflated by the effort. Thankfully, the week successfully reinvigorated my spirits; from daily dives to the discovery of the 8th ocean and academics to practice methodology surveys, it was another full week in the Seychelles.

Sunday's aim was to trek from Beau Vallon to Base following a footpath through Morne Seychellois National Park. Everything was going smoothly until I arrived at Anse Major where the footpath simply ceased to exist... I should have swallowed my pride then and there. Instead, I decided to improvise by scaling a cliff face and wrestling the jungle overgrowth. So much for the footpath.

Anse Major, Mahe, Seychelles

Trekking through the dense foliage in the general direction I wanted to go seemed like a good idea at the onset... but after a good hour, gravity got the best of me. While attempting to shimmy along a near vertical cliff ace littered with detritus, I misjudged a grip and fell few meters. Thankfully, the very jungle I'd been fighting to climb absorbed a majority of the impact; while my backpack (the very reason my center of gravity was all askew) took the brunt of the landing impact. I only suffered a few minor cuts along with severely diminished  moral. So with that, I called a cease fire and decided to return to Beau Vallon. Gravity-1, V-0.

Week 4 began with our routine Monday Camp clean as well as our Plankton Pull and Turtle Dives. My buddy, Meg, and I were dropped off near the Lighthouse to conduct our search. Despite our most earnest effort, our turtle dive was turtle-less. We kept our eyes open, scanning the crystal clear blue waters- but the turtles evaded our gaze. However, we did spot a Crown-of-thorns Sea Star, a devastating coral predator and one monitored closely. Even though we didn't find any turtles, our dive was not without merit!

Conducting a buddy check before a dive

Back on base, there was an awesome event that drastically altered daily life- a newly discovered ocean! For the past week or so, we'd been coping with flooding in the women's bathroom. It wasn't so bad, an inconvenient puddle to be mopped up now and again. But, after a plumber visited base to fix the issue... water levels escalated to an outrageous level, nearly 2 inches at its deepest! Water engulfed both the women's and men's bathrooms, creeping into an adjacent dormitory as well. Thankfully, the plumber returned to base and repaired the waterline; so by midweek life carried on swimmingly- with less a little swimming and a little less ocean.

Safely on land, we've continued our training by choosing survey specializations and learning to identify 13 specific sea cucumbers. There were two areas of specialization to pick from: invertebrate or benthic organisms. I chose to specialize in identifying invertebrates to spice up forthcoming surveys. The invertebrates surveyed serve as indicators of the overall health of the reef's ecosystem, serving an important part of reef species diversity, function, and appeal. Had I chosen to specialize in benthic organisms, I'd have continued studying immobile reef organisms, learning to distinguish soft corals as well as algae, sponges and other sessile creatures. In addition to these specialties, everyone has been required to differentiate sea cucumbers which inhabit Seychelles waters. The addition of new organisms to monitor has helped to reinvigorate both the academic and underwater aspects of base life.

Can you Sea us?

It's been fulfilling to have finally passed the exams. By midweek, we began utilising our training during practice methodology dives. Over the past few days, I've been buddied up with Meg for Coral Diversity Belt Dives. Over the course of 45-50 minutes, we've been conducting practice surveys under the guidance of staff Divemasters. The Coral Diversity Belt Dive covers an area 50 meters long and 5 meters wide over which coral diversity and commercial invertebrate species are tallied. Despite our most earnest efforts, Meg and I have been unable to complete a 50 meter belt yet. However, we're learning to battle surge and become more efficient with each dive, so I'm certain will be checked off on our practice methodology soon.

Next week is the halfway mark for the coral monitoring phase of my stay here in the Seychelles- how time flies when you're underwater.