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Hola hola…
Wow, ya bienvenidos a marzo (already we are welcoming March)!Between Carnaval, island excursions, and working the night shifts at La Playita, often times in retrospect, a week seems like a really long day.We are well into the summer/rainy season here in Manabi, Ecuador.On days when there are no clouds the sun is SUPER intense, and on days when it rains, it REALLY rains!For almost two weeks there were no buses between Puerto Lopez and Quito due to the flooded roads, and still on some days the roads are a no-go.In the advent of the rain, the countryside is flourishing with life.Flowers are in full bloom, the foliage is rich in color, and (though I didn't think it possible) the insects have at least doubled in number.
There are positives and negatives to this situation. On one hand, the 'dry' forest here in Puerto Lopez has become more of a tropical paradise. On the other hand, with the increase in bugs and humidity, everyone at Equilibrio Azul and even the children in EcoClub have experienced some type of illness in the last two weeks.I am tacking my case of "writer's block" up to just this…(the elevated temperature & humidity, being busier than normal and not receiving much sleep, thus feeling a little under the weather).The truth is that for the last few weeks every time I have sat down to write an email or blog I have been at a complete loss of words, something one might consider a lack of inspiration…I was beginning to feel a little concerned about this, however, with a few full nights of sleep and a couple days spent inside out of the baking sun, I woke up today feeling full of energy and ¡Ohala! the first thing that came to mind was "I feel like writing!"In any case, completely refraining from the English language for a couple weeks has given me a chance to be absorbed in the Spanish language (a definite plus as I can use all the practice I can get).Also, with the faster pace at EA, I have had some incredible experiences at work and am rapidly learning more and more about the marine life here in the tropics.
A quick update on the living situation at Equilibrio Azul..the house is super full at the moment.There are Mica, Byron, Johanna, Fabian, Alejandro, Miguel, and Arelis, all of Ecuador.Colombo of Colombia, Antonella of Italy, Sonia of Switzerland, and me.Living in a FULL house couldn't be more fun, there is always someone to talk to and hang out with!I was glad when Sonia arrived as now I am not the only one learning Spanish, though she has a bit of an advantage on me as she already speaks Swiss, German, French, English, and now, Spanish!The grammar of French and Spanish is similar therefore she understands the sentence structure pretty well, for Sonia it is more a matter of learning the vocab. When I am patient I am pretty good at forming sentences in the correct grammatical structure, though when I am excited and get ahead of myself, or tired, I still catch myself translating sentences directly as I would say them in English (which of course is incorrect and something I get really funny looks for doing)!
The whole crew has been taking turns working at the island since Carnaval.My last trip to the island was a bit short though Antonella and I had one full day of incredible diving!Not only did we encounter mountains of black corals (which was what we were looking for) but we encountered more species of fish than I have ever seen in my life, and we got to swim and play with a monstrous Green Sea Turtle.
I spotted the turtle plunging its head into a huge coral 'tree'; I guessed he was looking for some small reef fish to snack on.We approached the turtle and instead of swimming away the turtle let us play with its fins, and was super content with us petting it and just being there, up close and personal.It was so beautiful to actually be in the water with this animal, making eye contact with her/him in an environment which she/he is accustomed to and comfortable in (in contrast to the beach where the mama turtles are not so content with the world as we abruptly disturb any peace they may be experiencing with our data collecting scheme).I just kept thinking, "I really can't believe this is happening, I am playing with a giant Sea Turtle, underwater!"(Haha, I guess looking back on the last three months I think it's fair to say that this whole trip has been full of times/thoughts like this ;-)
Back to the black corals for just a moment.. so I have to be honest and admit I know very little about corals.In my term at Hatfiled we covered their life history briefly though never have I worked on a project with corals or taken an in depth class or anything like this.This is a new world for me and I am very grateful to have a good teacher (Antonella!) and to be working on this project and learning all about black corals.Lucky for us (on our first dive this last trip) we ended up dropping down on a huge reef full of black corals!Not only was it super to be in the water with Antonella who was going crazy flailing her arms and legs with excitement, but WOW! the corals are like nothing I have ever seen and are incredibly beautiful!They are durable for the most part, though they don't form hard reef structures like most of the hard corals.More so they form underwater "forests" on rocky reefs.Some of the corals were the size of small trees and others like ferns, bushes, and vines of a rich forest floor.These corals make incredible habitats for small reef fish, eels, other corals, invertebrates, etc. in turn attracting larger schools of fish, turtles, and other predators like sharks (still haven't seen a shark while diving but I have faith we will encounter a few in the coming months!).Another thing, the black corals on Isla de la Plata exist a bit deeper than the hard corals therefore we spent our time at depths of 25+ meters.
Antonella and I will be diving for days at a time throughout March, April, and May collecting data for her thesis project.I myself just finished a presentation of the majority of the fish we will encounter while diving at Isla de la Plata and hope to have enough time to organize a fish population survey during my time here at Equilibrio Azul.Regardless of whether or not we will have time or resources to do this survey, putting together the slide show was a fantastic way to learn the names and characteristics of the fish living in the waters in Ecuador.For me, it is really best (if not necessary) to have a good idea of what I am looking at before I go on an underwater adventure.Otherwise I make up funny ecological scenarios and end up with some silly half-relevant story in my head about what is happening between all the animals in the environment.Needless to say, it was helpful to work on the presentation and learn the behaviors and characteristics of the fish here.Not only do I have a better understanding now about what I am looking at and looking for in the water, but also I am able to identify more of the fish at the fish market.
Most of the fish in El Mercado are by-catch, and there is a LOT of by-catch.Hence, the fisheries are not well-regulated here.The positive side to the whole by-catch issue is that the people here utilize everything they bring in from the water.The negative thing is obvious, having no consequences for having a mountain of by-catch leads to fisherman being "opportunistic feeders".As of right now there are little data about the status of the fish populations here in Ecuador and off-shore from Puerto Lopez.There are plenty of data for the shark populations and Ohala! I look forward to seeing this report once the data has been analyzed!Though, nothing exists for the fish.Needless to say I have mountains of ideas brewing in my head on a daily basis about where to start, and what I can do to assist in the process of getting something started as far as collecting data on by-catch, or fish populations in the water while diving, etc.
Apart from the coral project for Antonella's thesis, we will also be diving at an island much closer to shore and just south of Puerto Lopez called Isla Salango.The coral reefs there have been severely harmed by fishermen.To compensate for some of the destruction we will be re-planting corals and monitoring their growth for the next few months.Assuming all goes as planned it looks like I will be spending most of my time underwater until June! Breeding season for the turtles is through April and we will be keeping an eye on the nests through May and June waiting for the baby turtles to emerge!At this very moment there are 4 CAREY nests on La Playita from which las tortugitas (baby turtles) are emerging almost every night!
Earlier this week we took the kids from EcoClub on a field trip to Rio Yampe, a river just south of Puerto Lopez.It was a beautiful day and fun for everyone, especially us volunteers as we got to play in the river all day with the kids!Some of the parents went as well.It was culturally insightful visiting with the parents, learning about their lives and their families.The people in Puerto Lopez are not very wealthy and all in all have very little, though there is an undeniable happiness and sense of peace and love in the majority of the people here, especially the women and children.
Aside from work, my girlfriends and I have picked up a new sport-one we are completely addicted to and have been getting up at 6am to do on a daily basis before going to work at 7:30..I guess I can now be considered una surfista (surfer girl)!Haha, the first day I went surfing was in Montanita, a quaint touristy surfing town an hour south of Puerto Lopez.The waves are really strong and a little bigger than I was comfortable with, though I had to try out my new board.. long story short I spent most of my time holding onto my bathing suit as the waves kept trying to take it from me, and trying to stay on my board to get past the surf.This task took a good 45 minutes and when I finally got past where the waves were breaking I had to take a half-hour break to regain my energy.I knew I was going to get eaten alive by the waves but I decided to take one anyway.I didn't stand on my feet but did make it to my knees.I sat there for a couple of seconds before falling a good 8ft to the water and getting slammed by the wave.This was the end to my first day of surfing.
Since the day in Montanita I have been playing around in the surf in Puerto Lopez and have just been practicing entering the waves and standing up in the small surf.So far, I love, love, love the feeling of being in the water feeling the tide under my board, it is such a peaceful feeling (especially in the mornings when we have the beach to ourselves).And I am ecstatic about having discovered a new active form of meditation (aside from running of course)!
So, I think I covered almost everything and will do my best to keep the site more up-to-date from here on out!If you made it to the end of this extra-long blog…I thank you for your patience!I miss you and send you my love and hope you enjoy a peaceful day!Peace be with you..Ciao, Ciao.. Hollis ;-)
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