Workin' 6 'til 10

So a few people have commented on how it doesn’t seem that I actually do much work. I think mainly because I’ve been writing about exciting things rather than the day to day. So with a new batch of volunteers just arrived or dive trained I thought it was the perfect opportunity to let you know how I am earning my keep. As one third of ‘Team Science’, as we are affectionately known, I help to keep the science which goes on running smoothly.

One of the central aims of the Coral Cay expeditions is to gather data about the coral reefs in the area. This data can be used in a variety of ways to help conservation efforts here in the bay, in the Philippines and also worldwide. Firstly we want to get a picture of what is actually out there. You can’t protect something if you don’t know what that something is. Our data is also be used to find suitable sites to set up MPAs (Marine Protected Areas), compose reports which go to local government and then to monitor what affect they are having on reef health. We also do Reef Check surveys which contribute to a world wide data collection effort.

The most important type of survey which we do, and the ones which go ahead throughout the year (rather than every 6 months as with reef check and MPA surveys), are baseline surveys. These are the most in depth and look at everything found on the reef; corals, algae, invertebrates, fish and the physical environment. Coral Cay aims to make a detailed map of the coast of Southern Leyte using this information. With each transect on which we record data only 250m apart this is a massive task! To make things easier the coast is divided into 1km long stretches and currently we are focusing on just 3 of these which are fairly close to base. Each survey starts at a depth of 24m meters and then progresses into shore. This usually quite a long way so each transect will take several dives to complete.

For the past couple of weeks we have been moving on with surveys while we have had at least one survey team (4 divers). I have spent a lot of time on the boat (the way we travel to survey sites) as Boat Marshall. This job includes being on the boat to check that all the divers are safe, inform Delia of the divers’ status and make sure they enter the water at the right point (using GPS) as well as noting down data such as weather and boat activity on the surface. I am also responsible for deciding exactly where we are going to go in a day and what volunteers are doing what job. I also have to log what we have done and help with the entry of the data into the computer.

But before any volunteer can take part in a survey they have to know how to do one and what it is they’re looking at. This is where SDP (Science Development Programme) comes in. This is a course that lasts about 10 days where the volunteers learn how to identify basically everything on the reef as well as the survey techniques they will be using and therefore become ‘validated’. This is done though lectures, ‘pointy’ dives where vols get to see in the field what they have just learnt about in the classroom and several tests. For each topic there is a computer slideshow test, a pointy test on a dive (where a validated vol points at organisms to identify) and trails which are permanent transects which mimic what happens on a real survey.

Currently Claire (the other SO) is away in Malupasca visiting the Thresher Shark Project so this time I’m all on own to teach and organise SDP (with some help from Project Scientist Rachel). So far it’s been good. Although the group is massive it was great to see them so happy after coming up from their first pointy dive. I’m really excited to teach them all the cool stuff I know and get them out doing surveys.

So I am a busy bee doing all sorts of things in the name of conservation science!

Love

Abi

xxx

Seven Weeks

I have just realised I’ve been on site for nearly 7 weeks. Time has flown by but it’s also made me realise how rubbish I’ve been at updating. I hope everyone has seen the photos that I’ve been putting up on Flickr though – if not heck out the link above.

I thought I’d tell you about some of the things that I’ve been getting up to that aren’t aprt of the day to day business of the site.

A big part of Coral Cay’s work is to do with community education and involvement. There’s no point in doing the science if the people who are directly affected by and have an impact on the health of the reef are not knowledgeable and enthusiastic about conservation issues. This means the Bridget the Education officer and Rachel the Project Scientist spend at lot of the time going out and about. But sometimes the vols can get involved too. The first week I was on site we took everyone on the boat to the nearby town of Santa Paz. Here we did a reef and beach clean as well as a presentation about waste management for the local kids. It was a lot of fun and I even had to dress up in full SCUBA gear to show how it all worked!

We also get involved with school children (and the wider community) by doing wall paintings. We’ve had a couple of sessions at the schools in Napantao where we have adorned the boring walls with a multitude of brightly coloured sea creatures. Again, this is really good fun; especially when the children get involved.

We have also gone to play San Francisco at basketball. Basketball is the Philippines national sport and the basketball court is often the centre of the community. It also means they take their game very seriously. At first we put up a good fight but then we decided that us girls should show them how it’s done. It kind of got a bit silly after that…

On a completely different note, a couple of Saturdays ago we all went to the local Karaoke place. It wasn’t a bar as such but an open wooden shack with the machine inside. These karaoke machines are all over the place and are just like an arcade game – you put in the money and make your choice. But as always we had a brilliant time and some people shone out as real performers!

We have also been on a couple of trips on Sundays. The best was the waterfall trip (post karaoke). We all got on a hired bus and travelled a little distance down the coast. It was just like a school trip complete with singing on the way. It was then about an hour and a half walk (and seven river crossings) to get to our destination. Walking through the forest was really exciting and we saw loads of cool bugs on the way. Sometimes the trail was pretty hairy with some steep slopes and rocks to climb over but the singing continued. Arriving at the waterfall was amazing. It just looked just like the ones in the shampoo adverts. We immediately jumped in to cool down and wash off. It was so nice to but fully immersed in fresh water even if it was a little cold. There were lots of ledges where you could sit and even a ‘Jacuzzi’ where there was a seat right in where the water flowed. We had our picnic sat on the rocks before setting off back down the river to the bus.

Last week was a bit different on site because of Holy Week. All of the staff went home to their families so there was no diving and we had to fend for ourselves. But we used the time well and I completed my Rescue Diver training (because we didn’t have to go deeper tan 5m). They were right when they said it would probably be the most fun course. We spent almost the whole day in the water practicing how to deal with different emergencies; in particular dealing with a panicked diver who will just lash out and probably try to push you down. Bridget (who is also an assistant instructor) did a great job of trying to drown us all. Another important thing we learnt was how to give rescue breaths in the water while towing a person to safety. That was tiring! Then we put everything together in some scenarios. I had to deal with Nick who had run out of air underwater, panicked, got cramp and then finally stopped breathing. Dragging someone who is at least 50% larger than you onto a beach is not easy.

I also went into Liloan with Holly to do resupply (aka the shopping). It was really good to get off site and see a bit of ‘real life’.

On Easter day itself we had been invited to a festival in Santa Paz. Some of us arrive at about 9.30am to find that we had either missed it or it wasn’t due to start until much later. But Rodrigo, the town captain, took us to the local karaoke bar and we sang out hearts out. This time in the morning g beat karaoke queen Claire’s record which I was quite proud of. And we got 100% score for one of the songs. The next day we were invited back in the evening for the singing contest which was really quite funny.

But this week things have been back to normal and I have been involved in the teaching of vols and running of surveys as usual. But in exciting news I have started my training to become a Dive Master. It’ll be hard work but an amazing qualification to have.

Keep those e-mails and comments coming. It’s great to hear from back home :)

Love

Abi

xxx